


Facts and Probabilities

by PalauMaggot



Series: F & P 'Verse [1]
Category: Elementary (TV), James Bond (Craig movies), Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Brief Description of Suffocation, Brief mentions of torture, F/F, Hurt Q, Kidnapping, M/M, Q Whump, Q is a Holmes, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-06-03 02:54:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 31,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6593839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PalauMaggot/pseuds/PalauMaggot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bomb scare reveals to MI6 that the Quartermaster is at risk from a very dangerous man. The only thing that they know is that he wants Q, so of course they're going to go to an expert. And if said expert happens to also be Q's brother, well, they'll try to keep that hush hush.</p><p>Dealing with a possible kidnapping that grows more likely by the second, Q tries to find a way to keep himself centered and not freaking out and so handling a certain Double-oh agent's feelings is not that high on his priority list at the moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ch. 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Not So Elementary](https://archiveofourown.org/works/678260) by [White_Noise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/White_Noise/pseuds/White_Noise). 



Q was having a more than typical type of day. He had been overseeing one of the 00-agents on a routine mission and she had just gone dark for the next few hours since it needed radio silence. Q took off his glasses to rub at his eyes before placing them on his face again.

He hadn’t had a break in a little over 18 hours and he needed more tea.

Picking up his scrabble cup, Q nodded at R to take the helm for the next few minutes before walking to his office to retrieve his personal laptop. While he was waiting for his kettle to warm up he could be improving on some security in the building.

MI6 was hit catastrophically after Silva’s attack and he wasted no time in taking over online security.

His former mentor had been in the Q-branch when the bombs went off. Thus promoting himself to the Q position. Q had been in R&D at the time testing one of the new guns that had been designed and built a few days before.

He remembered the shaking of the buildings and the various screams of terror.

Q didn’t know where the bombs were located until after the head count was finished. He had hacked into the system to see all of the names of his coworkers. Most of them had ‘Deceased’ typed next to their names. There were a few MIAs but he knew that almost everyone was still in the Q-Branch.

Only the few people he brought with him to test various weapons were alive. And even fewer returned to MI6 since they no longer felt safe. MI5 had ended up snatching some of the developers. Q could say with certainty that there was around two of the original Q-Branch employees pre-Silva still in the Q-Branch. (Excluding himself of course.)

Using his less than savory methods, Q looked for promising people to fill the slots. And after much researching into their histories he sent the files to M to be sorted and assessed for hire. He refrained from telling her about how he found them, even though he was sure she already knew.

Q enjoyed the lady M simply for the fact that she gave him a chance after he hacked MI6 and sent a professionally worded email to the Quartermaster about all of the backdoors and loops that he had found. (He did it twice before giving them his number. Then he was visited by M and Boothroyd themselves.)

That was a fun meeting.

Basically it went “Work for us or else you’ll be tried for treason.”

Although it didn’t mean that Q had a rocky relationship with the two people. Far from it in fact. They held a lot of respect for the sheer amount of intelligence Q had. (As well as sarcasm.) The Quartermaster had let Q lead a simple mission after he had been working there for a few months. 003 wasn’t sure what was going on, but she ran with it like a good agent.

Boothroyd was entertained for the duration of the mission when she slipped and called the new recruit ‘Q’ a few times. Q was entertained as well and shared smirks with his mentor.

Q couldn’t quite believe it when he saw the ‘deceased’ next to Boothroyd’s name. He had all of twenty minutes to process it before M had called him and informed him of his new position. She let it sink in for a few moments after stating her apologies, knowing that he was a father figure, before going on to say that he would be outfitting James Bond for the next mission.

Q worked on a new weapon as well as a small radio that had more of a chance of coming back since there was nothing inherently lethal about it. (knowing Bond’s lack of care for the gadgets after they passed the “new and shiny” stage from rants of the previous Quartermaster.)

He sighed and shook his head, finally coming back to himself. He needed to update the firewalls soon, they were starting to approach the week old date.

The brunet lifted his laptop and paused. He furrowed his eyebrows and gently set the machine back down before actually looking at it. There were no visible signs of tampering with, but he knew that it was heavier than what he was used to.

Q, after gathering a few tools from his desk, carefully took apart the case. When he lifted the last component off of the circuitry he inhaled sharply through his nose, “Well, damn.” He stood up calmly and opened the door before pressing the red button on the wall.

He spoke over the sudden alarm, “A bomb has been discovered, I expect you all to evacuate. I’ll stay behind and diffuse it.” He watched them rush out of the room and paused at R when she looked at him worriedly, “I want you to get to M and activate the cameras in my office. I’m sure there are speaker capabilities as well?”

She nodded before he even had to finish, “Are you sure you don’t want to wait for the bomb squad and evacuate with the rest of us?”

Q glanced up at the rest of the people and shook his head, “I’d rather not an incident like last time.” He nodded to her and squeezed her shoulder.

R gave him a small smile and nodded, “You should be able to diffuse it?”

Q grinned, “Piece of cake.” He knew how she automatically thought of worst case scenarios and she didn’t have to know that he was lying through his teeth. He made sure that she left the Q-Branch before going back into his office and sealing the doors so no one could get in. He was about halfway through examining the bomb before a crackling of a signal came through on one of the other computers.

“I suspect there is a good reason why the Quartermaster decided to put his life at risk?” M’s voice filtered through the small speakers, his voice staying calm and collected but his face betraying his annoyance (and slight worry).

Q gave the man a dry smile and continued working, “I figure one casualty would be better than fifty this time, don’t you?” He heard a small gasp belonging to R and cursed in his head for forgetting that she was there.

“You told me you could diffuse it!”

Q shrugged and ignored the video feed for the moment, “I’m not sure of anything, it doesn’t seem to make sense. There are wires that don’t seem to be connected to anything and plating that obstructs certain shortcuts any bomb maker would take.”

“Sir, would you like me to retrieve him?”

Q blinked at Bond’s voice before actually glaring at the screen, “Let me do my work so we don’t have a repeat of the Silva incident, hmm?” He turned his gaze back to the circuitry and started taking some pieces out, letting his frustration dissolve into focus.

He had been concentrating on the bomb so he didn’t hear M affirm Bond. Only when there was knocking on the door to the Q-Branch did he look up, which he immediately glared back at M.

The man quirked an eyebrow and shook his head, “You are one of the most valuable people working for MI6. We can’t just let you die.”

Q rolled his eyes and typed a few things on the other computer, successfully locking the Q-Branch down. No authorization codes would work now, “And I can’t just let a bomb blow inside of MI6 again.” He answered back coolly and muted the laptop.

He continued working and nearly jumped in his seat when there was light tapping on the communication unit still in his ear from the prior mission. Bond’s smooth voice came through the frequency. Q could guess that Bond had R hack it for him.

“Q don’t be stubborn.”

Oh that was rich. “I believe the common phrase would consist of a pot and a kettle would it not?”

“Yes, but is your name James Bond?”

Q rolled his eyes, “Give me five minutes on a computer and it very well can be.” He removed more miscellaneous plating before his eyes lit up, “Oh!”

“Q.”

The Quartermaster could hear the sudden worry and seriousness behind the agent’s voice and he couldn’t help the passing thought of what their relationship was at the moment before replying, “I’m just realizing why they wired it the way they wired it.” After all, a few bouts of (very good) sex when adrenaline was high could hardly be counted as a relationship.

A frustrated sigh had Q smirk a little bit, “Do you see how it feels on the other side, 007?” He said smiling.

James ignored the dig and continued, “M wants to know your progress.”

The brunet turned his unimpressed gaze onto the nearly forgotten laptop and quirked an eyebrow, “Oh so now you trust what I am doing?” He quickly unmuted them and went back to work.

“What did you find out about the bomb?”

“It was intentionally wired to make it look bigger. But if triggered the blast would only reach to just outside of…” He trailed off and furrowed his eyebrows, dread started to fill his stomach, “This branch was the target. Nothing else.”

R suddenly came onto the screen, “Can you disable it?”

Q shook himself out of the space he was in and started following wires to where they were connected, “Yes.” He kept his voice level but the underlying tension was all too present now that he knew the original purpose of the bomb. He didn’t notice the tense set of M’s shoulders sag, nor R’s relived look since he went right to cutting wires. He also didn’t notice them start to tense again when they realized that there was no rhyme or reason to how many wires he was cutting.

“How many wires are you cutting?!” R’s panicked voice came through the computer.

“All of them. This bomb wasn’t set to blow. It’s already done its job.” Q was also just making sure nothing would be able to be activated by remote when he was done.

Bond’s voice came through again, more edgy than before, “And what was that?”

Q cut the last wire and reached into his desk drawer, pulling out his own gun and then accessing his security feed to Q-Branch. He felt cool and detached as if this was just another mission, “To get me alone. Tell me 007, can you see anyone in the branch from where you’re standing?”

Just because there was inter-office relations present didn’t mean that they couldn’t do their jobs. It was one of the reasons why Q had let it go on for more than the one time.

There was nothing for a few seconds while Q went through the cameras, he saw a movement right when the agent gave an affirmative.

Q’s heart sank when he recognized who it was, “Oh Ronnie, what have you got yourself into?” he said to himself. She had been one of the originals before the Silva attack. Ronnie had been one of the worst shaken up from it as well, Q thought she might have gone with MI5 if given the chance. But she showed up the next few days and buried herself in the work much like Q had. (Only she had kept more sane hours.) He knew she couldn’t be doing this on her own.

“ _Q_. _Unlock_ _the_ _doors_. _I_ _can_ _take_ _care_ _of_ _her_.”

Bond didn’t know her. Not like Q did. It didn’t matter anyways.

“The only way to open them is out there.”

He gave a humorless smile at the light curse and stood up from his chair with his gun. Q closed the laptop, ignoring the other’s orders to not leave from the room. They could watch on the CC of the security footage.

Q slowly opened the door and stepped out of the room. He stood there in the quiet for a few moments before calling out, “Ronnie, I know you’re there.”

“ _Q_ _what_ _are_ you _doing_?”

His eyes caught the movement a few desks up and to the left. Ronnie had stood up with a gun trained on Q, “Hello, Q.”

“ _Open_ _the_ _door_.” Q could hear the tenseness that was rolling off of the agent in waves and he had to control his curiosity. So he filed it away for another time.

“Why are you doing this?”

The girl smiled and shrugged, “Blackmail.” Her hands were shaking minutely.

“Who’s blackmailing you?”

“Drop your gun and I’ll tell you.” She replied gesturing with the nose of her own weapon.

Q slowly crouched to his side and set the gun gently on the floor. As he stood up he had taken a step to his right. Closer to the security panel that needed his thumbprint to open the door. He held out his hands and nodded at Ronnie, “Can you tell me now?”

She looked torn, “I don’t want to kill you. And I don’t have to.” She hurriedly finished when she saw his eyes widen a bit, “It’s just a run of the mill kidnapping.” She swallowed and blinked a few times. Probably to keep tears at bay.

Q slowly slid his foot another few inches as she started advancing towards him, “And who wants me kidnapped?”

“I mean, it made sense at the time. Nobody cared after it all happened. Nobody wanted to make sure that everyone didn’t have to die in vain.” She was rambling now, becoming more frantic.

Q swallowed and froze when her gaze rested on him clearly, “Except you.” the side of her mouth twitched, “You’ve been making sure that no one gets in electronically again. And…” she trailed off and smiled, “I admire you for that.”

As soon as she started to think again he slid his foot to the side once more, “Who is blackmailing you Ronnie?”

A short, loud laugh made him jump, he also used it to gain a few more inches in the direction he was heading. “Does it matter?!”

“ _Hurry_ _up_ _Q_.”

The atmosphere was shifting and Q knew that he needed to get to the bottom of Ronnie’s betrayal, “I can protect you.”

She just shook her head, “No one can. He’s everywhere.” She trailed off and her eyes glazed over for a few seconds before continuing, “And that’s why you’re going to be coming with me now.” Her eyes cleared and she didn’t notice that he had taken her distraction to his advantage and got to the keypad which was now behind him, “And even if you don’t come with me, he’ll find another way to get you.”

Q hesitated his pressing the pad and swallowed again. He needed to get at least a name so that she wouldn’t die in vain. Q cared about Ronnie, she was his friend. “Just tell me a name.” He said pleadingly.

Ronnie took a deep breath before letting it out slowly as if to psych herself up for just saying the blackmailer’s name, “Jim Moriarty.”

Q closed his eyes and whispered “I’m sorry.” Before pressing his thumb against the slot. He knew she wouldn’t go without trying to fight back. Q also knew that James wouldn’t show any hesitation about killing a threat.

The door opened quickly. Ronnie turned towards the agent but before she could do anything James had shot her.

Q opened his eyes but kept them on the floor, he didn’t need to see someone who he had considered a friend lying dead on the floor she had worked on for the past year. He turned and walked out of the branch, aware of Bond following him. For now he ignored it. Q needed to talk to M, also find out who this Jim Moriarty was.

He pulled out his personal phone, typed in the three codes to access it and hit the contact labeled “2” to send a text.

‘ _Jim_ _Moriarty_?’

Q hadn’t expected a reply so fast considering this person was always busy but he stopped walking when he read it.

‘ _Don’t_.’

This was serious then.

‘ _I_ _may_ _not_ _have_ _a_ _choice_ _on_ _the_ _matter_.’

He continued walking and replying as the next text came in.

‘ _Explain_.’

‘ _One_ _of_ _my_ _personals_ _was_ _just_ _blackmailed_ _to_ _kidnap_ _me_ _for_ _this_ _man_.’

Nothing was sent for the next few seconds, ‘ _Most_ _likely_ _thinking_ _then_.’ and Q re-locked his phone and entered into M’s office. Moneypenny and Tanner were both there watching him and R couldn’t help the look of relief on her face.

M glared from where he was standing in front of his desk, “That was a very risky move Quartermaster.”

Q didn’t let the man rile him up, “It was calculated. Besides, I acquired the name of our blackmailer and was not shot in the process.” He glanced behind at 007 and raised an eyebrow, “As well as acquiring a protective detail, I am assuming.” He threw a pointed look at M to which the man nodded and Q had to refrain from rolling his eyes.

M glanced at 007 before looking back to the Quartermaster, “As per regular procedure you’ll be placed in a safe house for the next 24 hours while we assess the threat.”

Q shook his head, “With all due respect M, I am the one who conducts the assessments. Unfortunately ‘procedure’ won’t work this time.” He glanced at the others in the room (R looking like she was feeling a bit out of place) before continuing, “I am already checking into some things that I have personally.”

M gave him a certain look of displeasure.

“Completely safe if you’re wondering.” Q said in response to the look as well as to the slow stiffening of the three agents in the room, “I’ve _personally_ vetted them.” Q left his threat in the sentence. Basically, if they felt that they couldn’t trust that the Quartermaster had his own best interests at heart then they could bloody well live in the dark ages.

And if Q was wrong that his own brother wouldn’t help protect him then maybe he ought to be thrown to the wolves.

M sighed and nodded, knowing that Q was correct. “Fine. But you will have a Double-oh assigned to you until further notice.” He let them leave with a wave and for the Quartermaster to get on his lead. M sat down heavily and tapped idly on his desk.

He silently wished that the Quartermaster was as nervous as he had been at the beginning of his job than now. But he couldn’t deny that Q had taken initiative as well as no crap from the Double-ohs while on missions. M was actually pretty sure that a few of them were slightly wary of the boffin.

Although, he was positive that they all liked the young Quartermaster and was mentally preparing himself for the influx of queries that were going to be made as soon as the report goes out (or depending on how fast the word travels around, sooner. M sighed again, dismissing the other three to their respective jobs and lamented on the fact that he shouldn’t technically drink anything until he was off of work hours. Some days are worse than others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I liked the idea that all of the Sherlock universes were sort of meshed together into a dysfunctional family. So all of the credit for the relationship mash up and a certain part of a certain conversation ( in Ch. 2) goes to White_Noise for their series "The Other Life of Quentin Holmes - Quartermaster" Specifically "Not So Elementary"
> 
> Thanks for the inspiration!
> 
> Also thanks to Only_1_Truth for helping me out when I was writing it. If they weren't willing to read it and shoot ideas back and forth with me, this story probably wouldn't be finished. :)


	2. ch 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James meets Q's asset (brother). Sherlock riles James up. Q realizes how dangerous Moriarty is and makes a call that Sherlock doesn't like.

Q sat in the company car but ignored Bond’s searching look from across the seats. He, instead, was looking through Ronnie’s electronic history to try and find a link to an outsource. A few minutes went by to which the driver politely cleared his throat to get a destination.

Q glanced up to the mirror and then back to his device, “221 Baker Street.” He said loud enough for the driver.

Bond quirked one of his eyebrows before nodding at the driver to close the partition. When it slid into place he turned an expectant stare to the quartermaster. He sighed when it was apparent that the brunet was ignoring him, “Do you plan on filling me in or am I going into this blind?”

Q had found a small trail and was tempted to start following it but decided not to, just in case it was flagged from the other end. He looked up into the blue eyes that held a bit of annoyance, “The people we are meeting are absolutely safe 007. The flat is as well. I had a few inputs about the design of the security system.” Q gave Bond an unimpressed stare, “We will be safe there for however long we are staying.”

The agent scowled at those words and looked out of the window, “I wasn’t aware that M had approved of this.”

“He didn’t, this is the Quartermaster doing his job.” Q rolled his eyes and scoffed, “I hardly need M’s approval for doing what I was hired to do.” Q went back to his phone, knowing that Bond would stew for a bit before talking again. Q swore that James was a diva in a past life.

‘ _Brainstorming_ _session_?’

Q wondered how long it would take for the other one to try and call when the news got out. The phone chimed and he felt one side of his mouth go up into a small smile.

‘ _Always_ _a_ _pleasure_.’

“Is that your contact?”

Q glanced up and noticed Bond’s stiffness going away slowly. But he also noticed the slight edge in his voice that was near impossible to hear unless you had been working with him for a long period of time. Was that jealousy? “Yes. We are going to his flat.” Q noticed a slight tick near the agent’s eye and kept his smile down. Oh he could have fun with this. Q turned back to his cell and started typing out instructions for R to follow through when everything was settled, “I would be appreciative if you didn’t try to threaten him.”

The last thing Q needed was for Sherlock to badger the agent more than he already was going to so he had to tell Sherlock to play nice as well.

_‘My detail will be more tense than normal, do please try to be less forthcoming with your tongue.’_

_‘Where’s the fun in that brother?’_

Q rolled his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose underneath his glasses. Sometimes he vaguely wondered who was really the youngest. Ignoring Bond’s calculating look again he typed out a  
reply _._

_‘I’d rather you helping me with my problem than creating a new one for yourself.’_

_‘Fair enough, see you within the hour I presume?’_

‘ _Affirmative_.’

Done with the conversation, Q put his phone away and watched the scenery pass with bored eyes. He often wondered what he would have turned out if he had the full set of genes with his half-brothers. He knew that (fortunately) he didn’t inherit the lack of people skills from that side of the family. Mycroft and Sherlock’s ability to seemingly sever personal feelings was remarkable but also unfortunate.

Q knows that they haven’t actually severed the emotional attachment. He had personal experience from when they were growing up in the same household for those few years.

Knowing that traffic through London at this hour was treacherous, he allowed himself to retreat into his various memories of his two older brothers trying to teach and protecting him from bullies.

Q started to come out of his thoughts when the car turned down the familiar street. He sighed and glanced at Bond who was watching him. Q rolled his eyes before getting out of the car that had just parked. He wasn’t going to put up with the agent’s passive aggressiveness. Not when they actually said that there was nothing between them. Besides he had enough dealing with passive aggressive children when he was younger with his brothers to last an entire lifetime.

Q may be the youngest age wise but sometimes he felt the eldest when Mycroft and Sherlock argued.

The Quartermaster walked up to the door, knocked and waited. There were a few soft footsteps before an elderly lady answered the door. Q smiled, “Hello Ms. Hudson, I’m here for an appointment with mister Sherlock?”

The lady nodded and led them upstairs, “You know you bear a striking resemblance to Sherlock. I thought you were him for a second!” She said as she was walking up to the door.

Q nodded and shrugged, “Yes, I get that a lot.” A random passerby has mistaken him for the consulting detective and tried to get him to take a case. Sherlock got a kick out of it when Q had told him.

He felt more than heard Bond following them quietly, no doubt taking in everything that they were saying as well as the place.

“Sherlock! You’ve got an appointment?” She opened the door and gestured to the two sofa chairs and then left.

Q opted for standing and smiled at the man that was coming out of the kitchen.

John blinked at the couple (eyes doing a small double take to Q) and held out his hand, “Uh, hello, I’m John.”

James and Q both shook the offered hand and nodded. Q silently came to his conclusions about the man and felt a small need to be an annoying little brother but held it in. His eyes lingered on the cane leaning against the wall that had a blade hidden in it but kept quiet. He didn’t need James doing anything stupid.  
Watson awkwardly tried to make small talk before excusing himself, “I’ll go and get him shall I?”

John left the room to go and fetch Sherlock and Q shot a glance to James. He was a little too twitchy than he should be. It had the Quartermaster a bit confused but he ignored it when he heard the footsteps that were characteristic of his brother.

Q kept his smile small as he watched Sherlock’s eyes flit around him and James before finally stopping. He could tell that his brother wanted to talk about why a Double-oh agent was standing in his flat but was refraining. Q figured that he should dust off those old gold star stickers for the momentous occasion.

Sherlock lightly glared at Q and rolled his eyes, “So that is why you made me promise.” He mumbled. He ignored John’s small question of clarification and walked forward and pulled Q into a quick hug. Sherlock’s eyes watched as James shifted and tensed. Sherlock rolled his eyes and told him, “I’m not sleeping with him.”

Q’s eyes were filled with mirth as he let a small chuckle passed his lips. He looked back at Bond, noticing his slight ticks of confusion and then turned back to his brother, “Yes. Even though we were rather close as children, I’m afraid we’d draw the line at incest.”

James relaxed fully and actually looked between the two of them. Finally noticing the obvious (in Q’s opinion.)

John sputtered and groaned, “There are three of you?” He ran a hand through his short hair and turned to go back into the kitchen, mumbling “Of course, _of_ _course_ there are three of you.”

Q watched the doctor go and then smiled at his brother, “While it is nice throwing some for a loop,” He paused and then continued more serious than before, “about my inquiry earlier?”

Sherlock’s face morphed from amused to determined, “He is a dangerous man. You can’t go after him.”

Q rolled his eyes and extended his arms in surrender, “And like I told you, I’m not going after him. I just know that I am on his radar now.” He watched Sherlock start to pace and sat down on one of the couches. Q glanced back to James and nodded to the other couch before taking out his phone.

_…1 Missed Call…_

“Oh damn.”

Sherlock stopped his pacing and glanced over, “Him?” At Q’s nod he scoffed, “Ignore him.”

Q raised an eyebrow, “He’ll just send a car if I do. Would you rather him here or not?” Q knew which buttons to push with both brothers, although Mycroft knew when he was trying more often then not.

Sherlock dramatically waved towards his room with a “Fine!” and sat in his other chair.

James made a move to follow but stopped when Q held his hand out, “I would be appreciative if you didn’t, Bond. I’m safe here, don’t worry.” The agent relaxed back into the chair watching as his Quartermaster left the room and looked back to Sherlock who was staring at him.

John came back out and leaned against the wall, “Don’t scare him off Sherlock.”

James smirked, as if he could.

Sherlock’s eyes flickered again and then he rested back against his own chair, “So tell me, Double-Oh agent.” He resisted the urge to smile at the other’s stiffening, “How long have you been harboring feelings toward my brother?” The detective asked with a quirked eyebrow.

\\_\\_\\_\\_

Q felt the tiniest ounce of guilt for leaving James with his brother but figured that maybe it would get the agent to tone himself down. Well, that or blow up. It depended on how Sherlock handled it in all fairness. With a sigh, Q pressed his redial button and held the phone up to his ear. It rang the customary two times before Mycroft answered.

_“I heard someone had a rather eventful afternoon.”_

Q sighed and rubbed his eyes, “You could say that.” He sat down on the bed and stared at the wall to think. Their silence stretched for a few small moments before Q spoke again, “Ronnie was a great worker, I don’t understand why she did that.” He said quietly. He heard his brother make a noncommittal noise. Q took off his glasses and fell back onto the bed, “I’m sure you know where I am at the moment, yes?”

_“That I do.”_

“…What should I do Myc?” He asked quietly again and closed his eyes. He hasn’t felt this confused or at a loss of choices since he was a young boy, “From what Sherlock is telling me this guy is dangerous and I can’t help it at this point because he knows who I am.”

_“Who is it? I can probably make them disappear.”_

Q smiled to himself and rolled his eyes, “Uh, Jim. Jim Moriarty?” The silence on the other line made something drop in Q’s stomach. He waited for a few more seconds before sitting up slowly. “…Mycroft?” If whoever this man scared *both *of his brothers then Q knew that he wasn’t someone that you wanted to know.

He put back on his glasses and leaned over his knees, “I’m bloody well screwed aren’t I?” Q breathed out. He started feeling the beginnings of a panic attack but concentrated on breathing evenly. That was the last thing he needed at the moment.

_“You have the entirety of the British secret forces to help protect you. As well as a few different agencies around the world. You are going to be fine.”_

“You know you can’t use military for your own personal needs Mycroft.” Q said smiling at the sentiment.

_“I can do what I want. I am your elder brother.”_

Q allowed himself to smile again at the show of brotherly affection before turning serious, “All things considered it would probably endanger me more. Until we know for sure how much this Moriarty knows, nothing should change. He’d get too suspicious.”

There was a noncommittal noise on the other line and the siblings went quiet for a while.

Q looked at the closed door for a few moments and sighed, “I should get back, I suppose Sherlock has terrorized my detail long enough.”

_“Double-oh?”_

“Of course.”

_“I supposed mummy wouldn’t find it too pleasant if Sherlock went missing again would she?"_

Q let out a breathy chuckle, “Most likely not.”

_“Keep me updated.”_

“You as well.”

Q ended the call and stared at the screen for the few seconds before it went dark. He sighed and stood up. Glancing around the room, he took the hidden stashes of cigarettes out of the few hiding places and hid them in different places. He almost rolled his eyes when he saw the bunch inside of a slipper. That done, Q exited the room and walked back down the small hall and blinked at the scene.

Everyone was standing, James in a threatening manner, John between the two and Sherlock almost ready to fight. Did he really think he could take on a Double-oh?!

“Really. I’ve been gone for literally five minutes and this is what’s happened?” He kept his voice in the authoritative tone he used for missions, as well as calling out his brothers when they were younger.

Q held up his hand when there were moves to complain about the other and shook his head. He pointed to Sherlock, “You’re helping me.” He pointed to James, “You’re sitting down and not murdering my brother.” Q gave John an apologetic look, “And John if you could move your cane to another room that would be grand as well, I know you won’t use it but that one,” he nodded to Bond, “is a little jumpy with it there.”

John was shocked for a second and pointed to himself before shaking his head and muttering, “Bloody deductions.”

Not resisting the urge, he called after him, “Sherlock told me about it a few days after you moved in.” He turned back to Sherlock who was sulking in the seat and placed his hands on his hips, “Can we get back to the matter?”

The detective shot a glare at James and bit out, “With such a guard dog you would hardly need my expertise.”

Q saw James’ little vindictive smile and growled, “You two will stop harassing each other and help me, now. Because I have a lunatic after me that _everyone_ seems to be afraid of and I’d rather not be _taken_. _By_. _Him_.” He was breathing a little heavy and his back was tense from anger and frustration.

John had come back during the rant and stopped in the doorway. Sherlock and Bond had the decency to look as ashamed as they could.

The tense silence lasted for a good minute before Sherlock leaned forward over his knees. He didn’t waste any time on apologies (exactly what Q needed and wanted) and started mumbling, “First thing is first we would need plans to counter every possible angle that Moriarty would come up with.” He stood up and stared at the wall with a smiley face painted on it, “Possible kidnapping locations and all possible routes to different get away plans.”

Q leaned back against the wall behind himself and nodded, “Including all possible backup plans for the original plans.” He started tapping his fingers against his hand and felt the familiar atmosphere start to develop whenever he and Sherlock had started one of their brainstorming sessions.

James scoffed under his breath, “Sounds like you’d need more than one ‘consulting detective.’” He meant it as a barb against Sherlock but he didn’t expect the two brothers suddenly stop moving and make eye contact after registering what he said.

Nobody expected them to suddenly move either.

Q brought his hand up to block Sherlock’s as the younger held his own phone out of reach. Sherlock made to grab Q’s phone and grunted when he was parried from his goal. They both stepped back from each other, one’s eyes burning with anger and the other with excitement, “That’s a brilliant idea and you know it Sherlock.”

“He will need to stay somewhere and it will be forced onto myself.” Sherlock crossed his arms and glared, knowing that Q would block him again if he lunged for the phone.

Q still held his phone away and had his other hand stretched out as if to push Sherlock if he tried to get through him again, “He’s the perfect one to help.”

“He’s a perfec-” He stopped his insult when Q held up one finger and Sherlock blew out the rest of his sentence angrily, “I’ll not stand for him coming within a country of me.”

“We’re family, that’s how we’re supposed to feel.” Q rolled his eyes and stepped back when Sherlock tried to take advantage of the slight slip of vigilance, “Plus we need him!” He added on hastily stepping onto and over one of the couches.

Sherlock paused and narrowed his eyes further, obviously skeptical, “Why?”

Q dropped his arms slowly and let his face fall. He knew Sherlock wouldn’t come after his phone when he finally came clean about how he felt, “Because I’m terrified.” He glanced at his brother and saw the thinly veiled worry at the sudden change of demeanor, “And we need as many different takes on this problem as we can get.” Q ran a hand through his hair and swallowed down the small hysterical laugh he was about to have. It rested in the pit of his stomach like fire, “Maybe I am being selfish but excuse me if I would rather not be at the mercy of a psychopath that no one is able to catch or leave any evidence of his crimes.” He said quietly.

And for the second time within an hour he had reduced the room to a heavy silence that lasted for longer than a minute.

Staring Sherlock down, Q dialed the number that he had memorized years ago. He knew that his brother was only going along with this plan because of the dire situation. Q took a deep breath and realized that the other two occupants were staring in confusion (or passively in Bond's case). 

Looking back it was a pretty confusing conversation if they didn't have any background to their family. Q gave his brother an almost unnoticeable grateful smile and refrained from rolling his eyes when Sherlock gave him a subtle scoff and looked out of his window.

The other line clicked and a smooth voice carried through to Q,

_"To what do I owe this pleasure, cousin?"_

Q closed his eyes, "I am in need of a favor."

_"Color me intrigued. What does the phony think of you calling me?"_

Q opened his eyes and locked them with his brother, "You know as well as I do that you both are named after a grandfather. Just like your father and Mycroft."

" _Semantics_." The voice said the same time that Sherlock rolled his eyes and glared at the tree outside.

Q let his huff of breath be the answer to his cousin, "We're in over our heads over here and are in need of another detective consultant."

_"You know as well as I do that gathering the both of us is ill advised. Not only by us but by our whole families."_

Q had wanted to let his frustration out again but figured that he had his fill of outbursts for the day and just simply said, "If you know this name then you understand how bad the situation is. Moriarty." The answering quiet was expected by this point.

_"...Who is the target?"_

"Me."

_"I'll be on the next flight over the pond. Someone will have to talk to my father."_

Q nodded even though his cousin couldn't see it, "I can take care of that. See you in a bit Sherlock."

They disconnected the call and Q let his arm fall limp to his side. He took another breath to calm his nerves and turned back to the other occupants in the room. Sherlock was still staring out of the window but his glare had softened. John's face had changed to a hilarious amount of confusion at the farewell and Bond seemed to be glaring at nothing in particular.

All in all the day had gone a lot better than Q really expected it to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when is a good time to update this during the week? monday so that you have something to look forward to after the weekend, wednesday because it's the middle of the week or friday in celebration of the weekend? or a random sunday, tuesday, thursday, saturday just because?


	3. ch 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family reunites, talks about feelings are had, and Q lets the inevitable happen.

Q had figured that the moment that his cousin set foot inside of Sherlock’s home he would start snarking about the décor. What he didn’t expect was the silence that had filled the room where everyone was gathered. His brother on one side of the room, arms crossed and staring impassively out the window and his cousin with his hand on the roller case he had packed for the trip, staring straight at the other.

James and John had gotten along well after the first night. As it turned out there was a lot in common with both of their past jobs. They both were in between the two Sherlocks with Q nearest to his brother.

Q managed to brief them on a very condensed version of their relationship while his brother was in the loo. The fact that they were so alike that they hated each other, the frequent fighting and constant one-upping each other had followed both into adulthood and then Sherlock was flown to the USA by his father to clean up his act. (Also England probably couldn’t handle the two of them at the same time for very much longer.)

The tattered relationship was bearable only when there was a level headed referee present and focused on peace or if one of the family was in danger. And unfortunately the current state of mind was the former.

“How far are we along with probabilities?”

James quirked an eyebrow. The Holmes weren’t ones to beat around the bush but he still expected a greeting of some sort.

Sherlock gestured to the table where various maps were spread out, “We have written down fifteen different scenarios, I’ve been mulling over a few more, trying to pin down differences in tactics Moriarty may be using.”

Q strode over to the table and picked up the notebook to give to his cousin, “We have a minimum of six back up plans for all fifteen at the moment, and as more are thought of we jot them down.”

Sherlock left his case next to the wall and walked towards Q. He didn’t say anything as he took the book and read through it. He glanced at the other Sherlock, “No wonder you called.”

Sherlock scoffed and made an aborted movement towards his cousin before Q held his hand out and pushed lightly at his shoulder.

James noticed that Q kept himself between the two detectives. Whether it was by force of habit or consciously done he didn’t know but he knew it was for the best as well.

John glanced at the other military man and raised an eyebrow before tipping his head in the direction of the small family reunion.

James nodded and they both strode over to the other side of the table to watch and sometimes add in their own observations to certain plans. He felt a certain solidarity easing slowly over everyone. Working towards the same goal in emergencies tended to bring a group together no matter how bad the blood happened to be.

Unfortunately it only lasted for a few hours before the two detectives started to let their usual quips at each other’s expense.

Q managed to stop them from escalating and sent them both to their rooms. The lovely Ms. Hudson offered the other Sherlock 221C for free after hearing about the problem. After an exhausted sigh, Q let himself sink into one of the couches. James joined him on the other one and the comfortable quiet settled over them.

“Family, hmm?”

Q snorted and covered his eyes with one of his arms, “When we are all gathered you can’t imagine what it’s like.” He replied quietly. Q heard the doctor retire for the night and then lifted his arm so he could properly look at the agent. James seemed completely at ease with the situation. Relaxed in the chair and staring out of the window beside them. Q let his gaze linger before replacing his arm. It was all an act of course. James wouldn’t be able to fully relax until the threat towards his Quartermaster was dealt with.

Q idly wondered what his other brother was doing. No doubt watching from the cameras hidden around the flat but also possibly planning along on his own. Q would kill for a chance to see Mycroft worked up over something little that his brother and cousin had possibly missed. But then again if it was important there would have been a phone call.

The quiet went uninterrupted for a good twenty minutes before Q got up and headed over to the table. He felt more than heard the agent follow and watch what he was doing. Q’s eyes swept over the plans and he tapped a pencil that he picked up. He glanced to James to see completely calm albeit curious eyes and then back down, “I’m willing to bet a life that Moriarty already knows where I am and what we are doing.” He said quietly. Q was slowly coming to terms with the fact that he would be kidnapped eventually. It was just a fact. He just didn’t want to face it yet. Q still held onto a childish hope that his brothers will be there for him and protect him.

As it turned out he didn’t need to bring it up. His cousin did and now 221B was just short of a warzone.

“I am just saying that we need to account for _all_ of the variables.” Sherlock said loudly from his cover behind a chair.

Q and John were holding back James and Sherlock, respectively. Q simply pointed his finger at the agent before going to his brother who was yelling.

“And I am saying that you believing Moriarty could win this is-” Sherlock blinked in shock that his brother had outright covered his mouth.

Q glared at him and shook his head, “I’ve thought about this too. It’s time that we stop thinking out the plans and start thinking about what to do when he gets me.” He almost took it back at Sherlock’s broken look in his eyes, “Yes, when. Because this is a man that gets what he wants.” He took his hand off of Sherlock’s face and turned to his cousin, “And, at the moment what he wants is me.” He nodded to Sherlock and went back to the table, “So he is going to find a way to get to me regardless of what everyone else thinks.” He could feel his hands shaking and wrapped them around his mug of tea to hide it. Q needed to be the strong one right now.

His cousin muttered “Precisely.” Before he stepped around him and started writing down the different ideas that he already had on a different piece of paper. He was mindful to keep Q in between James and Sherlock just in case. A fact that had Q almost smiling at, “We all know that Moriarty is dangerous and has no accountability to his actions.” Sherlock glanced to Q before nodding, “It was something that I had immediately thought about after your call.”

Q nodded and closed his eyes. He looked to his brother after taking a few seconds to compose himself.

Sherlock took a couple of deep breaths before walking to the table and grudgingly writing a few possibilities.

Q watched and realized that his brother knew it too, he was just holding out for something. Q looked up from his cousin’s and brother’s writing and saw that James still hadn’t moved. He took a quick sip from his mug and glanced at his brother. Sherlock simply raised an eyebrow before looking at James then back to him.

Q rolled his eyes and walked away, “No fighting while I’m gone.” He ignored Sherlock’s small grin and his cousin’s suspicious look before gently taking James’s arm and leading him down the hall to his brother’s room, “You’re in charge.” He said in passing to John and hid his own smile at the panicked look.

Q led the tense agent to his brother’s bedroom and quietly closed the door. He continued to face the opposite direction and sighed, “What are you doing here Bond?”

“I have a mission to protect the Quartermaster.”

Q turned slightly to look at the agent from the corner of his eye, “But what are you doing _here_.” the Double-Ohs always took an offensive tactic rather than defensive. It was just in their nature. If something was a threat then they went after the threat, not sit back and hide from it.

The quiet made him turn around fully.

James was still staring at him with the tense set of his shoulders and a slight glare in his eyes. It wasn’t directed towards Q, that much he could tell. A small flash of realization made Q realize that the malice was directed inwardly. Bond was mad at himself, most likely for his inability to protect offensively. It wasn’t in his comfort zone. And it made him nervous.

Q kept his realization to himself and went to sit down on the bed. He felt the bed dip next to him and sighed. He knew that their relationship had to be addressed, otherwise James could have some slip ups in the future. He addressed his next words to the wall in front of them, “I know you’ve developed slight feelings towards me.”

Bond only relaxed back onto his hands in a more comfortable position.

Q looked at him, “You need to know that I haven’t developed those feelings.” Bond just maintained eye contact with no hint of surprise at the statement.

“I know.”

Q nodded and broke the gaze, “The reason why I’ve kept on with this thing is because we are both adults and we know what we can handle. I trust that you will break it off at the moment you feel you have to.”

Bond made a non-committal noise and looked towards the wall as well.

The brunet lamented on the fact that most of their conversations actually took place in the silence after either one of them speaking. He switched subjects after the right amount of silence was had, “I know that Moriarty is going to take me James.” He felt the atmosphere shift and smiled humorlessly, “It’s a fact.”

“No it’s not.”

Q looked back into the other’s blue eyes, “Your feelings for me are clouding your common sense as an agent.” The answering huff made Q smile slightly. The small amount of silence had Q sobered up quickly. He knew what he wanted to say and this was it, “The more ideas we have for getting me back before he kidnaps me the better. It means I’ll spend the least amount of time in his hands.” He watched James take a few controlled breaths and wondered briefly how deep those specific feelings went before writing it off for another day. After all, there were more important matters to attend to.

They both drifted out of the room and went back to planning. Q only left the room again when he got a phone call.

James noticed that the two brothers looked at each other and Sherlock just rolled his eyes when Q nodded. The ability that they had for reading each other reminded him of Alec and himself. It was uncanny and the agent debated calling in a favor from the Russian. He was drawn from his thoughts when John came over and sat down.

“It’s insane how alike they are.”

James knew that the doctor was referring to the two Sherlocks but he felt that the brothers were more similar. He simply nodded after watching though. They were simultaneously working together beautifully and equally pissing each other off. It was actually quite hilarious if Bond didn’t know what was happening. His eyes strayed to the closed door and wondered who was calling Q so much. It could be one of the branch at headquarters but with the looks between Sherlock and Q it had to be someone they both knew. And to his knowledge Sherlock didn’t know anyone in Q-branch. He doubted anyone in Q-branch knew that Q had a brother in the first place.

James let his mind wonder to the ‘what ifs’ what if they didn’t get to Q in time, what if Q was never found again, what if Moriarty dangled it in front of their faces. It was a steady downward spiral that James had to physically shake himself out of when Q came back into the room a few moments later.

Q looked at James skeptically, as if he knew what the agent was thinking about but didn’t bring it up. Instead he informed everyone that he made a call to MI6 requesting a few things to be delivered within the day.

After a small delivery from Moneypenny, as well as her assurance that she had Q’s cats in her flat for the near future, Q had a corner of the room dedicated to his tech. She stayed for a few minutes, glancing worriedly at the boffin before giving a quick hug and a wink, which was more faked, towards Bond.

Q started turning on his gadgets and started fiddling with a small piece of what looked like a metal pill.

Bond watched him load it into a small cylinder and pressing it against his leg. There was a sound of compressed air for a second and the small wince from the Quartermaster told James all he needed to know.

He had just implanted a tracking device.

Q ignored the looks from the others and dragged his laptop towards him. He quickly found the trail that he had glimpsed on the original car ride to his brother’s and drummed his fingers on the desk in debate. After realizing that Moriarty most likely already knew where he was he figured ‘what the hell’ and started typing, “Going after a possible lead that is most-likely a trap.” He didn’t raise his voice beyond his normal speaking volume but everyone went quiet and turned their heads towards him once again.

Q paid them no mind and continued typing. He heard identical scoffs from his brother and cousin, an aborted “What?!” from John and felt James walk over to him to watch over his shoulder. He knew the agent was tense from what he said and they both knew that Moriarty was probably thinking that he had won from the other side.

In a way he had.

Q stopped typing when he realized that his computer was starting to do things on its own, “Knew it.” He said under his breath and even though he knew it was inevitable, he still felt his stomach drop when flashing words drifted across his screen.

_“Shall we begin Quartermaster?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm moving to Portland in about a year, if any of you have advice on moving for the first time I would love to hear it.


	4. ch 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welp. No one can stop a stubborn Quartermaster.

They treaded carefully after that. Q slowly closed his laptop and relaxed into the chair as there was a bustle of noise around him. He wasn’t sure where it all had come from since he closed his eyes to think about the borderline endless possibilities of being taken.

They all came down to him activating the new tracker in his leg. He was to wait until they settled and after he would be swept for bugs to turn it on. The trigger would be a lack of blood flow in a certain timed pattern, which could be easily done from Q’s position as long as his arms weren’t bound away from his legs.

Of course there was always a factor that they wouldn’t be able to account for when dealing with an insane mastermind.

There were so many possibilities and both Sherlocks, James, John, and Q did their best to cover all of the ends. But Q also knew from the laptop hack that Moriarty was somehow spying on them now. They kept their conversations stilted from then on to keep certain information secret. The relationship between the three Holmes’ was the big one.

Who knew what Moriarty would do if he found out there was yet another person to play with Sherlock’s mind?

So far, they were all holding out hope that Moriarty just wanted Q because he was the Quartermaster of MI6 and was one of the most technology inclined people in the world. The amount of power that Q had just residing in his mind was something well sought after for many. Moriarty was just someone who had the means to be successful at getting it.

It was the third day of just sitting and Q had had enough. He knew that it was going to happen sooner or later and all of the waiting was just succeeding in rising the tension between everyone. Q knew that as long as he was inside of the flat with the four others he was putting them all in danger. Moriarty was no doubt planning something for all of them and since everyone else (besides Sherlock) was disposable, Q figured that they would all get caught in a cross fire and then no one would be able to get him out from the clutches of the madman.

He also knew that no one would go for letting him leave with no protection of any kind.

Q was “washing up” but in reality he was writing a letter explaining why he was willingly getting taken. He hid it in his trouser pocket for now, when he left he would leave it somewhere in the open for someone to take notice. Q stared at the mirror for a few moments, going through his plan and more or less psyching himself up for it. He was going to be willingly going with Moriarty. It made sense. It would be the best way to go, less struggle meant less force. It was the option that Q would prefer as well.

After all, the sooner he was taken the sooner he could be found.

He left the washroom and went back into the kitchen where John was attempting to make dinner. Q watched for a few moments, he decided that it was a good time as any, and spoke up, “I’ll just ask Ms. Hudson for some help?” At John’s grateful smile Q smiled back with a knowing nod. Trust his brother to not keep anything edible while he was working and this time it was in his favor.

The Quartermaster glanced back to the room where his family and detail were looking over more plans and attempting to come up with more solutions and swallowed. He caught eyes with his brother’s and gave a half smile, “I’m getting Ms. Hudson to bring up some food. Not all of us run on the thrill of a job.” He shook his head at James who started to accompany him and rolled his eyes, “Really James, I think you would be more needed here to make sure those two don’t set fire to anything.”

007 didn’t look too convinced and Q had to force himself not to look at his brother again. Sherlock could always see right through him, “I’m moving literally twenty steps. I’m fine.”

James nodded and went back to looking over the map with a little bit of hesitance. Q’s cousin didn’t even look up from his thinking.

Q flexed his left hand unconsciously and turned to go down the stairs. He chanced a look back when he was getting to point of not being able to see them again and locked eyes with his brother. There was a defeated understanding and Q knew he didn’t fool his brother but he also knew that Sherlock wouldn’t say anything. He turned around and continued down the stairs.

Q didn’t stop. And Sherlock didn’t try to stop him.

He greeted Ms. Hudson, gave her a small peck on her cheek and slipped the letter onto the platter she was preparing.

One last glance back, listening to the mumbled voices he closed his eyes and slipped out onto the street. He felt the eyes from the second story following him but didn’t look back. Q had to trust that his brother would keep quiet until the letter was delivered.

And then hopefully no one would attempt to kill Sherlock from not stopping Q. Specifically James.

He walked down the street for a total of three minutes before a car pulled up beside him. Q turned towards it and held up a hand as a few men came out quickly, “I’m going willingly, geniuses.” He stepped around one of the men and into the car, promptly shutting the door behind him. He noticed that the henchmen seemed sort of let down before addressing the driver, “I’m assuming you had instructions to drive as soon as I was in the car. We can probably leave them behind.” He winked at the shocked driver before settling and clipping his seatbelt. The driver recovered quicker than the men outside and drove off, leaving them behind.

Q felt his phone start buzzing and took it out of his pocket. He turned off the tracking chip and replied to the angry text from 007. A simple ‘ _Sorry_ ’ and then turned it on silent and tapped in the code to reactivate the chip before hiding it in the pocket that no one ever used behind the front seat. The sudden disabling then turning back on was a trick he learned to get his phone right to the top of the track list in MI6. Not that he wasn’t already, it was insurance just in case.

A few moments later the car stopped in front of a warehouse. Q stepped out and walked into the open front door. He stopped a few paces in and stared expectantly at the smaller man in a suit. Q knew from experience with his agents that the suit was tailored and expensive. He also had experience with people judging his own taste in clothing and didn’t feel uncomfortable about it anymore. If anything he felt more at ease.

“I have to say that I didn’t expect you to do that.”

Q just quirked an eyebrow, “I figured that you would get to me sooner or later and I was getting bored of hiding in Sherlock Holmes’ flat.” He knew he was being assessed. He felt it after each first encounter with every Double-Oh. Luckily he was briefed about it from both Moneypenny and the late M so he was prepared. Q’s dry attitude quickly made him a favorite among the agents.

He had a slight passing thought of how each one will take his kidnapping and immediately dismissed it. He knew it wouldn’t be taken well. Not to mention the attempted bombing. Q figured keeping the murderous agents in mind during his captivity would help him through it.

The silence between the two lasted for a few minutes before Jim giggled, “Oh I can already tell you and I are going to have loads of fun.” Moriarty stepped forward slowly as if he was a predator assessing its prey.

Q stood tall and regarded him with the same attitude he used with his agents. He was unsettled with the other’s giddiness but didn’t let it show. Q just figured it was a ploy to become more disconcerting and establish an automatic power shift. The more powerful person was the one that was unpredictable and unsettling to the others.

Q figured Moriarty had the money to back his power and that didn’t deter him in the slightest. Q knew that Moriarty wanted him for something. So that, in essence, put Q in a position of power. Q had a talent of looking at things in different ways for his own personal comfort and it typically worked out. It was working out for the boffin, until his mouth and nose were covered with a rag and the sharp scent of chloroform filled his lungs.

He focused his eyes on Moriarty who was smiling and shrugging. And all Q could do was sluggishly roll his eyes. If Q could keep Moriarty believing that he wasn’t afraid then it would be for the better. Q would be regarded as a curiosity rather than a boring tool. Learning that point of view from his brother was probably the best thing he did at Baker Street.

He figured it could confuse the other and if not then it portrayed his annoyance and not fear. That was also a good thing considering it would throw the mastermind for a loop. With those final thoughts Q relaxed and let the blackness take him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You get to have this chapter a day early since I'm going to be supes busy tomorrow!
> 
> So ex-nay on the move to Portland. Instead I'm heading to L.A. Now I'm debating on which neighborhood to move to. Any suggestions?


	5. ch 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moriarty and Q have a few stare offs and Bond finally has something to do.

_‘It’s been getting more daunting with each day that I’m in this flat. My kidnapping is going to happen whether we want it to or not. I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the best option at the current moment. I apologize that I had to go behind your backs but it had to be done and I know at least one of you would have tried to stop me. The sooner I get into his hands then the sooner I can get out of them._  
_Q_ ’

James fumed as he paced the hallway. He had noticed that Sherlock had stopped giving input as if he had given up but he passed it off as a quirk of the consultant. It wasn’t until Ms. Hudson came up with food that he noticed a piece of paper balanced between two cups. James immediately looked towards Q’s brother and noticed he had seen the note but made no move to pick it up.

He knew.

Sherlock knew and he didn’t do anything about it. And now M and Moneypenny were in the flat trying to figure out which plan to go with.

The cousin didn’t bother saying anything, he simply sat back and watched. Although James noticed that he had stopped purposefully trying to rile the other up.

Sherlock was quietly explaining out all of the scenarios to the two newcomers. He also seemed to be avoiding eye contact with the other three in the room.

James could tell he was feeling guilty about his knowledge. He glanced at M when the man wiped a hand down the front of his face, “So we have to wait.” the agent noticed he kept vague since he was also briefed on the possibility of Moriarty being able to hear them somehow.

Moneypenny was standing near the kitchen, keeping the other two in her sights since John was in the kitchen. She hadn’t been present for the last few days so she didn’t have the small amount of trust that James did. She had filled them in that Q’s phone was found ditched out on a side street. MI6 had set up a search and were combing the areas but they knew that Moriarty wouldn’t let that stop him. The mad man was most likely already at phase two of his own plans.

James seemed relaxed but on the inside he was roiling with anger. His task of protecting the Quartermaster only went tits up when the Quartermaster himself didn’t want to be protected. Apparently M knew it wasn’t Bond’s fault and aside from the initial scathing glare there wasn’t any other reprimand.

It wasn’t until everyone was starting to make their ways back to MI6 that James finally cornered Sherlock in one of the rooms, “Why did you let him go?”

Sherlock scoffed and turned towards one of the windows, “He was going to get out sooner or later, agent. You as well as I know that once Q puts his mind to something he does it.”

James couldn’t disagree and it actually made him deflate. They stared at the street, watching the cars in companionable silence. James was going to make a move to leave but stopped when Sherlock started to speak again.

“Besides. Q knows that he has one of the most powerful men in the world looking for him.”

James felt the need to cross his arms but refrained, “I highly doubt that you are that dangerous.”

Sherlock turned towards James with a glint in his eyes. He smiled and shook his head, “While I am undoubtedly on that list, I wasn’t referring to myself.” He left the agent at the window to think on his words. Sherlock had some things he needed to get going before his brother had too much of a head start.

James paused, unsettled by the detective, and then left. He knew that Q had secrets but how many were going help him out of the clutches of Moriarty? According to Sherlock, a lot will. As the agent got into the car with M and Moneypenny he couldn’t help but think about how many of those secrets will run the risk of being out in the open after all of it was said and done. He figured it would be worth it if Q came out alive and unscathed.

-\~-

Q felt the soreness in his neck before anything else. As he woke up he noticed a tightness around his chest and equally tight and biting feeling around his wrists and ankles. Q pulled up his head and let it fall backwards slowly to work out the kink. He let out a quiet grunt when his neck popped. Q didn’t know if anyone was in the room with him but it didn’t matter, there would be a camera if there wasn’t a person. Q knew he had to keep up his persona for Moriarty.

There was a clapping noise a few feet to his left and he opened his eyes to see who it was.

The shorter man dragged over a metal chair, the scratching against the cement floor was loud in the plain room. Jim placed it facing away from his captive and straddled it so he could prop his arms on the back of it. The criminal slowly placed his chin on his crossed arms and stared at Q. A few moments passed before he spoke up. Mostly answering Q’s quirked and unimpressed eyebrow, “I have to say that I didn’t expect the Quartermaster of MI6 to waltz right into my hands.”

Q sighed and rolled his eyes. It wasn’t phrased as a question but it was an open ended statement, and he hated beating around the subject, “You’re a man who gets what he wants. You were going to somehow get to me sooner or later.” Q relaxed as best as he could in the chair, restrained as he was. His torso was secured to the back of the chair with duct tape and he could assume that his wrists and ankles were also taped together. Q gave his feet an experimental wiggle and found that they were attached to the chair as well.

Moriarty continued to stare, “Still. You can’t blame a guy for being suspicious.” He shrugged one of his shoulders and gestured to Q’s current state, “You don’t look very dangerous but then again I don’t either.”

Q had to give the man a dose of respect for that, “Given our line of work, I would be disappointed if you weren’t.” At Moriarty’s giggle he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

“Yes, I suppose I would be too in your position…” He righted himself up and started tracing the back of the chair with his fingers, “Even so, I had to take everything that wasn’t clothing from you.” Moriarty stood up and Q couldn’t help but liken it to a cat, “’The Great Quartermaster’ of MI6. A prodigy with anything having to do with technology.” He slowly started to circle the other occupant, “It’s a great way to make a living now. Everything can be traced to anywhere as long as there is some sort of connection.” He was in Q’s blind spot now so he let himself swallow his gathering saliva, “If you’re the best at what you do it’s amazing job security I can imagine…”

Q refused to try to follow him with his head and chose to stare at the now empty chair, “And I can imagine the man who can get anything he wants has a good reason as to taking the Quartermaster of MI6?” He laced the words with sarcasm in his head since he didn’t have an actual death wish. Out loud they came out detached. It was the thought that counted.

Moriarty placed a hand on Q’s shoulder, He leaned forward and placed his other hand on the opposite shoulder. Moriarty hovered for a bit next to his face, sighing before squeezing gently, “Funny thing Q, I really don’t.” He pushed himself off of the Quartermaster and walked back around. Moriarty’s smile turned into a smirk as he threw his arms out to the sides magnanimously, “You said it yourself, I can get anything I want, so why would I need you?” Moriarty turned and left the room after throwing a ‘See you later!’ over his shoulder.

Q allowed himself a few deep breaths and closed his eyes. With his hands behind his back he wouldn’t be able to activate the locater chip in his leg. Q couldn’t figure out what Moriarty wanted him for yet and both options were equally terrifying as they were calming.

On the one hand, Moriarty was going to use him somehow to get back at someone, MI6 if it was England, Sherlock if he knew they were related. And on the other, Moriarty was lying and needed Q’s expertise on a matter that was more delicate than he would feel comfortable dealing with. Both options used Q but both meant that he was still needed.

Well, at least he wasn’t going to die tonight.

-\~-

Being moved around was certainly starting to get old. Q didn’t know where he was but he knew that he wasn’t in Britain anymore. He had been knocked out a couple of times and had no awareness of the outside world aside from blank rooms. So it was a surprise when he was freed of his bonds and left to wander freely in his current holding room.

It wasn’t any bigger than a hotel and he had a sneaking suspicion that at some point in the journey he was on a plane. (Thankfully knocked out.) Q knew with all of the traveling and bouts of forced unconsciousness it had to have been more than two days. He swallowed his nervousness at the new development of slight freedom and went to the bed first.

He sat on the edge and, naturally, his hands went to his thighs. At least in this position, if the room was bugged, his flexing hands would just appear as a nervous tick. While in reality he was activating the tracker that he had placed there before he left Baker Street. Q only hoped that he would be able to keep his status as a valuable hostage for however long it would take MI6 to get to him.

In his time in captivity Q learned that Moriarty didn’t actually know of his relation to Sherlock. The man just marveled at how much information there wasn’t about the Quartermaster. The typical snark didn’t frustrate the criminal mastermind; in fact it endeared Q to him. Q didn’t know if it unsettled him more or if it helped his nerves.

All things considered Moriarty had a terrifying level of likeness to the Double-Oh agents that Q dealt with on a regular basis. All of the agents had come to regard Q as a sort of friend/sibling/thing. So with that information Q ended up reacting to things as if Moriarty was a Double-Oh agent. If all of those interesting interrogations were to go by, it was working. Although with Moriarty’s reactions, Q knew that he was viewed more as a pet.

Q held his hands in position for another minute before moving to rinse his face in the washroom. MI6 should be on their way now. When he came out of the room he found people waiting for him. He rolled his eyes and sighed, “Am I being moved again?”

The man on the right smiled, “On the contrary Quartermaster, Moriarty would like to talk to you again before you start your job here.”

Q had enough time to think ‘ _Job_?’ before he was being ushered out of the room and down the hall with the two newly acquired body guards. He was led down stairs and into a typical empty room that just had the criminal in it. The door closed behind him and he heard a lock slide into place. Used to these types of scenarios, Q sighed again and crossed his arms.

Moriarty started to walk around the room and grinned at the Quartermaster’s reaction, “You are an interesting person Quartermaster.”

“Thank you, I was hoping for your approval for all of my life.” Came the dry reply.

Moriarty giggled and clapped his hands, “See that right there is what I’m talking about. You’re not afraid of me.” He said the last part more to himself as if he was debating something.

“On the contrary Moriarty.” Q walked towards the wall to his left and leaned against it, “I am afraid of you.” He saw brown eyes narrow with consideration, “I don’t seem like it because you’re a shark.” Q glanced away towards the ceiling and then back to the genius, “You smell blood and you go for it.” Q watched Moriarty stalk slowly to him, “I’m just refusing to bleed in open water.”

Jim stopped a few inches away from the Quartermaster and stared into the hazel eyes. The stare off lasted for a few moments before Moriarty slowly grinned, “Why did you go to Sherlock Holmes’s place?”

Q simply quirked one of his eye brows, “He has had many dealings with you, it seemed like it was the most logical thing to do.” He relaxed a bit when the other turned from him and started to walk back to the chair that was sitting alone in the middle of the room.

“And yet you come right into my hands willingly.”

“I was tired of waiting out a fate that was set in stone.”

Moriarty’s face smoothed out, “Don’t try to play me Quartermaster.”

Q forced himself to stay calm, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Jim.” He didn’t move from the wall. One part he was afraid of going closer to the madman and the other he didn’t think he could walk without giving away his shakiness.

“Mm hmm.”

The quiet felt a bit more awkward than it usually was and Q was starting to think that maybe he was wrong and Moriarty just wanted to smell that figurative blood. Maybe all he wanted was to get to the unflappable Quartermaster and then move on.

Until a computer was brought in.

Q watched as Moriarty opened the top and turned it on. Q forced himself to keep a straight face. With the presence of that computer, Moriarty just proved the motivation.

Something was very delicate and he needed Q’s talents.

-\~-

R was at the helm of Q branch as she had been for the past week with their missing Quartermaster. A few techs had started to give up hope that the tracker would be turned on, and they were reprimanded by no less than three people. Sometimes more if Eve and Tanner had found out about the incident.

007 had been pacing the branch. He and a recovering 006 were the only two in the building. All other Double-Ohs were on various missions. Everyone knew about the kidnapping and M was right in that there was an influx of angry/worried messages sent in.

Typically when R had answered the calls for missions, the Double-Ohs wouldn’t do anything until they were put in the loop. That was when the over-protective nature came out at the nearest target. R was always on the receiving end but didn’t let it get her down. She knew that they would react that way and prepared various speeches for each Double-Oh.

They were all very different and would have to be handled in varied ways.

R had a sort of cheat sheet, one that James had smirked at the first time he saw it, on the side of the desk and when she took a call she would glance to it quickly. Another reason why Q was missed, he could filter between all of the Double-Ohs seamlessly.

One memorable time when James was stuck in the building on down time, he had watched Q lead three different missions. The boffin had to guide two of the agents out of the lines of fire at the same time and help the third infiltrate undetected into their building.

Needless to say watching the Quartermaster switch not only from mission to mission but attitudes for each agent was nothing short of mesmerizing. It also made James a bit dizzy at the three schematics that were displayed at the same time on Q’s screens.

After all three were directed to safety there was a collective cheer in the branch. Bond noticed there was a minute drop of Q’s shoulders that signaled he was actually unsettled through it all. Something he masked very well.

The agent was quickly brought out of his thoughts when a loud beeping started sounding from the main screen in front of them. He straightened as he watched the signal narrow down from the globe to the North American continent to the east coast of the United States, to a specific state and then the city of Boston.

James strode forward as the locator kept continuously narrowing down to a specific building. He turned back to the whole room, noticing the silence and pointed, “Is that what I think it is.”

R’s gaze drifted from the map to the blue eyes of the agent and the slow relieved smile was enough to answer his question.

The stillness of Q-Branch was obliterated as everyone started getting things together. R had made sure that once the tracker had been activated that every single person knew what to do. James calmly strode forward to the desk as another minion handed her a case.

“007. Here are your things. Standard palm-print gun, earpiece, night vision watch…” she bit her lips to hold back a grin as she met his eyes, “I know that he was waiting for the right mission for this but I can’t think of a better one.” She held a simple silver pen out to the agent and let her grin out, “Three clicks arm it, three clicks to disarm. You have four seconds to either throw or disarm. One click is just a normal pen”

Bond held the pen for a few seconds as a slow, warm smile graced his own features. He glanced up when another minion walked to R, “Nearest agent is actually stationed in Pennsylvania at the moment, 003 reported that the task is nearly complete and can wait for 007 to help with retrieval.”

R nodded at the tech and turned to Bond, “Please play nice with agent Riley.”

James kept his smile and pocketed all of his tools, “Always do.”

“Now that is a total lie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case any of you missed it, I turned this into a series and my explanation of how Q came to be a half brother of Mycroft and Sherlock is in it. :)


	6. Ch 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting serious! wooo

Q took a few deep breaths before returning to his task. Moriarty had asked him to hack into MI6. He didn’t ask what for, knowing that the man wouldn’t tell him. He was also aware that Moriarty was a hacker as well and would be able to tell if Q was actually trying or faking the man out.

Q quickly figured out how to mask his non-efforts. The system that he had put in place after Silva was advanced enough to protect itself and he exploited the program for all that it was worth. He also noticed that Moriarty was starting to get a little peeved with his inabilities.

“The Quartermaster should be able to hack into his own system!” He said in a singing voice that was filled with frustration, “You should know all of the backdoors!” He said angrily.

Q paused in his typing which had the firewall push him out again, “I can hack in from MI6 just fine, outside however I installed a constantly updating firewall system that randomly changes codes every hour.” He explained calmly, “If I was inside of MI6, it’s as simple as looking up the randomizer to see which code it is on and then you’re in but outside of that it’s impossible.” _If_ _you’re_ _not_ _me_.

Moriarty leaned forward and glared, “Then just hack into the single server.” he said quietly.

Q turned towards the mad man, “It is on it’s own power, offline and separated from the whole of MI6. Don’t forget that I am a hacker in my own right and know how to keep others out.” he said venomously. Hearing Moriarty try to back door him was pissing him off and no matter how frightened he was of the man, it didn’t compare to how much rage he had from the other trying to talk down to him.

Moriarty’s demeanor changed as he leaned back. His face went from anger to calm to borderline pleasant, “Of course. I keep forgetting that you were the one who designed the Failsafe Protocol Package. Marvelous job on that by the way.”

Q let his focus slide back to the screen and breathed in deeply again. He heard the people around him starting to pack things up and closed the laptop, knowing they were moving again. He only hoped that MI6 was able to figure out where they were soon. Q wasn’t sure about how much longer the other was going to keep him around. He could tell that his usefulness was starting to run out.

_____

James sat at the bar of the nightclub he was supposed to meet 003 at. He drank with cool composure and only smirked when a woman in a black dress sat next to him. He lifted an eyebrow as he continued to sip his drink.

She had a black dress with a slit up one side. The lace straps went over her shoulders and continued down to her lower back showing off her olive toned skin. She gave James a small grin and gestured towards the door after extending her right hand.

James gave one last glance around the club and took her hand. He let her lead him out of the club and towards the car park.

“It’s always so much fun in those clubs.”

James didn’t let his surprise show at her voice, “You aren’t undercover anymore, why are you still talking with an American accent?” He slid his hand out of her's and simply walked with her pace.

“Accents draw so much attention in this country. I swear they’re obsessed with anything that sounds different.” She rolled her eyes and brushed her bangs out of her eyes, “You’re driving?”

007 placed his hands inside of his pockets, “I don’t have a car.” He shrugged as 003 turned her skeptical look towards him, “Haven’t gotten one yet, August.”

The other agent turned her attention back to walking. The silence reigned for a few moments before she pointed to a car, “How about that one?”

The car in question was definitely right up 007’s alley. And said agent made a beeline to it. He thought he heard a mumbled ‘Thought so.’ trailing after him but James paid it no mind. They were getting a mode of transportation.

Agents rarely worked together but when they did it usually turned out for the better. The main reason why they were kept separated was because of ego. The agents who had it, had it in spades and the agents who didn’t, typically wanted to shoot the ones who did. 007 and 003 had worked together twice before and while James preferred to work alone, he was comfortable working with 003. She had the nickname ‘chameleon’ among the other agents. 003 was able to adapt to different people naturally so she was typically called for duo missions.

James noted that although August was on her phone, she automatically leaned with the tight turns that he pulled in the car. He always forgot that there were other agents besides him and Alec and wondered about their own experiences and jobs. It always seemed like he got stuck with the difficult missions.

The ride was in silence. They parked a little ways away since the valet probably would have been suspicious about the lack of keys to the car and walked into the hotel together. Agent Riley winked at the concierge as she pulled James towards the elevators.

They kept up the act in the elevator, aware of the camera in the corner and James crowded her against the wall, “This seems familiar…”

003 smiled and leaned forward, “Oh yeah, I’ll bet it does.” She watched his cues and tilted her head so that their lips were an inch apart, “You are a load of shit.” She said in a quiet and seductive voice.

James smiled back and leaned against the wall beside her. The rest of the ride was a companionable silence and when the elevator finally reached the floor, she led the way to her room. James noticed that the room was quite big, now with the door shut he knew he could speak freely, “How were you able to wrangle this suite out of the budget?”

August was going through her bag and shrugged, “I guess someone in Q-branch likes me.” She said airily. 003 pulled out her communicator and tapped it into her ear.

007 tapped his own on and went to sit on the chair, “007 and 003 checking in.”

_“I was beginning to wonder where you two were.”_

003 picked up some spare clothes that she had and went to the bathroom, “Oh don’t be like that R, you can’t just pop in and out of a night club. There has to be some time spent enjoying yourself otherwise you look suspicious.”

There was a skeptical noise that made both agents grin.

007 pulled off his jacket and started to set all of his things on the empty desk to his right, “Any new developments R?”

 _“There were a few hacking attempts towards MI6 but thanks to Q’s automatic protocols they were booted out of the system. We didn’t manage to get a lock on them so they were pretty good, considering.”_ She paused before continuing, _“Q was moved again, but he is still in Boston. They are now located in a compound that is very large. I didn’t feel comfortable with just you two on it so I sent out 006 a few hours after you left 007.”_

Bond glanced at the closed bathroom door, sparing a brief moment of thought to how 003 would have reacted to that information. His initial expectation was confirmed when her voice drifted through the com.

 _“Oh great, I’ll be the third wheel again.”_ On a single occasion all three of them were paired up for a mission. 007 and 006 since they were best friends ended up over accounting for things and 003 at one point took a seat and watched them take out the bad guys. While they were trading smirks Riley coughed into her hand and pointed out the door where one of the head guys had ran out. It was rather hilarious in hindsight, but they all knew to lie on the official report. M would have had their heads. 007 and 006 for acting like children trying to one up each other and 003 for not shooting the man when he made a break for it.

_“I told him to be nice, just as I told 007 before he left.”_

Now there was a giggle from the other agent. She exited the bathroom with pants and a plain T-shirt, “Oh R, looking out for lil’ ol’ me?”

_“No, I’m looking out for them.”_

Both agents snorted at the reply.

_“Trevelyan will be at your room within the hour. Check in when he arrives so we can all plan."_

003 threw her dress into her bag and held a hand to her ear, “Right-o, 003 out.” She took out the ear piece and placed it in her open kit.

James signed off as well and put his on the table. They stared at one another for a few moments before Bond looked out of the window, “You ready for this agent Riley?” it wasn’t a barb at her, it was merely a statement to fill the quiet.

“As ready as you are, agent Bond.” Was the calm reply.

\\_\\_\\_

A knock on the door had both agents look up from where they were organizing their things. They had a map laid out over the bed with one red mark to show where Q was being held. The two agents silently agreed that they wouldn’t plan for anything without 006 and R’s input. Four heads were better than two and they both knew that there would be a reprimand if they tried to advance with any sort of ideas. Bond and Riley knew to keep the ideas saved for the meeting.

James let Alec in and grinned at his friend, “Glad to see that you came back from the dead again.” He said referring to the fact that 006 was in medical just before being sent to the United States.

“Well, resurrection is the thing that we do best, ain’t it James?” He turned to the other occupant who was shaking her head at the other two, “Ah, the lovely August, how have you been?” He openly leered at her but everyone knew it was in good fun.

003 rolled her eyes and reached into her bag to get the ear piece out, “I’ll have you know that I am in a serious relationship.” She said matter-of-factly and with a smile, at Trevelyan’s disbelieving scoff she gestured to the room, “How do you think I scored this hotel?”

James ignored the other’s banter and opted to place his own earpiece in. He saw that Alec already had his in and then clicked his own on, “Everyone is accounted for, R, we are ready when you are.”

The thing about agents was that they were real human beings and seemed normal for the most part, but when they started planning for their job, it was like a switch was being flipped. Alec and August both zoned in on the map as soon as James had called in. They all knew what was at stake.

_“We all know each other’s strengths so Alec I’m going to want you to be outside covering with the rifle I sent with you.”_

Alec took in the areas where he would be able to watch and started to mark possibilities with his own green marker. August had orange and James had blue. This way there wouldn’t be a mix up with directions and everyone would roughly know the entire plan before getting out to do it. They all knew to be fluid with plans since things never go right, it was a part of being a Double-Oh so it was ingrained into all of them.

_“August and James, you two will go into the building and start checking the rooms. The first priority is the Quartermaster. If one of you finds him then get him out.”_

“Checking different floors at the same time is faster and we can cover more ground…” August started but was softly cut off by Alec.

“It wouldn’t be easy to watch you two at the same time like that, and if you both get caught in a jam I wouldn’t be able to cover accurately nor completely.” Alec pointed to one of the ridges on the map, “I’ll be here, it has the most coverage out of all of the points.” He said the specific latitude and longitude degrees to R as James leaned forward to inspect the map and write in his own blue pen.

“It would be the best course of action for us to go in at the same time and cover as the other checks the room. That way Alec can cover from the outside and R would only have to relay one set of directions.” James said to August.

003 nodded and set her pen to copy the lines that he drew, “Alternating who goes in every other room.” At James’ nod she continued, “Once one of us has the Quartermaster we should find the quickest way out.”

 _“I’ll have that covered. Depending on where you are in the facility there are numerous exits. And even more for Double-Oh agents.”_ R added on wryly knowing their proclivity towards shooting out windows and falling a certain number of flights to the ground.

All three agents grinned to each other and nodded.

 _“While we do want the Quartermaster out as soon as possible, we should also make sure that any proof, no matter how small, that Moriarty leaves behind is preserved so we can make sure that he never tries a stunt like this again.”_ Knowing that Moriarty would be able to kidnap Q again if he got away scott-free was a major sobering point for the agents, “ _Kill_ _him_ _if_ _you_ _get_ _the_ _chance_.”

August’s eyebrows rose, “Wow, getting very passionate about this aren’t you R?”

_“That was an order from M.”_

The three agents visibly showed their surprise in different forms. James by blinking, Alec by tapping his finger against the map once and August by closing her eyes briefly then letting them open to stare at the map, “Okay then,” Alec recovered the fastest and tapped against the map again, this time on purpose, “Let’s go get our Quartermaster back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am celebrating my first passed lesson in bartending school so here is a gift to all of you! :) early posting! yaaaaaay


	7. Ch. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Situation of the explosion type..." What could go wrong?

003 and 007 guarded each other’s backs as they entered the compound. It was a large place and seemed overall too quiet to be comfortable for the agents so they were more on guard and hyper-aware than typical. They were aware of the other agent covering them from the hillside in front of the compound and that helped them with feeling more at ease with their unknown situation.

_“Around the bend should be a hallway with rooms on either side, I’m estimating that we’ll have the cameras hacked in 30 seconds.”_

Riley and Bond glanced at each other, nodded and continued onwards. They started to systematically check each one of the rooms and after quickly glancing around they moved on. So far everything was empty and cleared of anything.

Until the second to last one that is. James’s eyes widened slightly as he noticed first illuminated red numbers that were slowly counting down, “Situation of the explosion type.” He said quietly as he strode in to try and disarm the bomb. He knelt by the panel and quickly pulled it off. James barely registered his partner’s presence next to him, guarding the door just in case.

Cursing over their comm. units had them both at levels of surprise, “Why R, I believe I’ve never heard that type of language out of your mouth.”

_“Shut it Riley, I just found out that they moved Q again.”_

Both agents straightened, “Where?” Bond spoke, his eyes never straying from the bomb.

_“Down a few buildings, the fastest way would be by rooftop.”_

James made a move to get up but August stopped him, “You know that you have to stay here James.”

007 growled and briefly thought about reaching for his gun to shoot the new development, “Our first priority is Q.”

The other agent held her open hands up, “I know that, but we also need to make sure that everything that Moriarty has touched doesn’t get blown so we can have some sort of evidence in case he becomes a slippery snake again.”

James leveled a look at his coworker and didn’t back down, “I had the best time at the course.”

“I scored higher than you with obstacles.” Riley glared right back, “We all have our skills, yes, you beat me with stamina but I had the best obstacle run through. What this needs right now is my talent, not yours.” Satisfied that she had made her point, she left out of the window and started to make her way towards the roof.

James growled again, knowing that she was right and went back to the bomb, “Alec, if she doesn’t make it to Q, shoot her.”

_"I am very humbled by your opinion of me, 007.”_ August said dryly back through the comm. unit.

Alec made an amused sound but didn’t give an affirmative. With that, Bond knew his friend had sided with 003 in the situation. Knowing that the sooner he diffused the bomb, the sooner he could continue to Q, Bond started digging through the wires again but listening closely in case any new information came through.

_“You have two on the next roof.”_

“ _I_ _see_ _them_.”

Alec’s impressed voice filtered through after a few seconds of quiet, “ _Shit_! _You_ _gotta_ _teach_ _me_ _that_.”

August chuckled a bit and replied, _“You’ll have to be a bit more flexible, love.”_

_“Oh I can show you how flexible I am…”_

“No flirting over the com lines.”

Both of the other agents went quiet save for a few breaths from 003 that signaled she was still running. Bond could feel the shocked amusement through the line and immediately regretted speaking up.

_“I believe if we looked up the word ‘hypocrite’ in the dictionary right now James’ face would be there.”_

_“She’s right Jamsie.”_

“Oh shut it, it’s different.”

_“No, no you’re right,”_ 003 grunted as she vaulted over another block in her way,  _“Alec and I don’t mean it while you and Q do.”_

Alec’s sultry voice flitted through again, “ _Who_ _says_ _we_ _don’t_ _mean_ _it_ _Ms_. _Riley_?” James refrained from saying anything after being called out last time. He didn’t like to be teamed up on.

_“My current committed relationship, Alec.”_

_“I thought you were just joking about that.”_

_“Alright, I think I’m with James on this one now, could we please get back to the mission?”_ R’s voice bit through the line with a fine sliver of annoyance.

003’s voice held much more amusement than it should, “ _Very_ _well_ , _R_. _I’m_ _at_ _the_ _building_ , _which_ _room_ _do_ _I_ _go_ _for_?” It was quieter than the teasing was which meant there were windows that were open and she had the risk of alerting someone to her presence.

Bond heard R’s reply in the back of his mind as he focused once more on the bomb. There was still seven minutes left on the clock and he needed to get to the other building soon if he didn’t want to lose his mind about not being there to help with the rescue.

James cut a few wires before hearing the female agent curse. He started trying to work faster when he heard the sounds of a fight start to break out through the ear piece.

There was a shot from Alec’s rifle and a barely concealed grunt of frustration followed shortly after,  _“Bullet proof glass. I can’t help you Riley.”_ The growl that followed his statement showed what Alec thought about it.

-

003 fought off the two that were in the room and quickly pulled out one of her throwing knives stashed away on her person for these kinds of instances. She impaled one of the men to the doorway on their way in and landed another punch to someone who was closer to her.

She saw Q tied to a chair that was further inside of the room, but it was too late by the time she figured out that it was a trap.

August kicked her frustration on another man and twirled around to punch another, knowing that he would go down fast. He was the last one until four more came in with guns focused onto her. She paused and glared at the floor knowing that any more fighting would put both her and the Quartermaster in danger.

The final man that she punched let out a breathy chuckle and she couldn’t help but kick him out cold. She watched a few of the guns trained on her flinch but no one made a move to shoot. 003 glared at the man who could only be Moriarty. Everyone had flocked around him when he entered.

“I am so delighted that MI6 is in the habit of equality!”

August ignored the panicked talking in her ear and opted to slowly cross her arms. She looked at the Quartermaster and addressed him instead, “You okay Q?” She purposefully said his title so Bond and Trevelyan would know that she at least made contact.

_“James, I’m serious, you need to get to Riley now. R, do you have eyes in that room?”_

_“The bomb’s not disabled yet!”_

_“Yes, she’s surrounded. I can’t see a way out without putting her or Q in danger.”_

Q nodded at his agent and tried to loosen his wrists from the chair, “I’m fine agent Riley.”

Moriarty placed his hands on Q’s shoulders heavily, ignoring the way August stiffened at the touch, “Don’t be so cordial Quartermaster! Surely you two are friends?” He glanced up and let his face return to its neutral state, “Well, it doesn’t really matter does it?” He straightened up and looked at the knife that was sticking out of one of his men’s bodies, “How many are there?”

003 lifted her chin slightly, “5.” She looked at Q as he choked on air, immediately she turned friendly, “You can’t expect us to just send one, can you Quartermaster?” She smiled at him again before glaring at Moriarty. A white lie about how many agents there were would help them in the long run and 003 had a brilliant poker-face

_“003 try to buy some time!”_

_“Bomb is deactivated, R, fastest route.”_

_“People are moving around outside.”_

The criminal simply grinned back at her, “Who are the other four agents with you?” he asked quietly.

003 listened as R tried to guide James towards her but she knew it was over. With the people moving outside thinking there is a bomb that is going to be activated in the next few minutes, it was a wonder that she wasn’t killed on sight, “I don’t feel like giving you that information.” She answered faux pleasantly.

Moriarty’s grin turned sour as if flipped by a switch. He yanked the knife out of the body, ignoring it as it slid down to the floor and replied in a mimicked tone of voice, “I don’t feel like letting you live.” before throwing the knife.

Q stared as his agent spun to the side with the force of the throw before falling to the floor motionless, “Riley!” He struggled more as another man came forward with a rag and placed it over his mouth to gag him. He was dragged out of the room fighting to get back to his agent on the floor. He tried kicking out and shouted through the gag. Tears had started to gather in his eyes, watching one of his agents die so quickly right in front of him had him feel a deep sense of guilt. And then leaving her behind in a compound that was about to blow up had Q feeling anguished.

-

Alec heard a sharp intake of breath from R and knew that it was over. He briefly closed his eyes as the techie started to call out over Bond’s questioning voice,  _“003 come in! …Agent Riley!… August answer me!”_ Each time was more desperate than the last.

Bond’s own voice went quiet after putting two together. He cleared his throat and tried to yell over the line, “R. R! You have to focus. I understand that losing an agent is hard but you have two more in the field that need you level headed right now.” He paused for a second before starting to make his way out of the building, “There will be a time to properly morn 003 but that time is not now.”

Alec readied his sniper rifle to shoot at the people who had Q in custody but cursed when they took a different road, “No shot on Moriarty, I can cover you as you exit, 007.”

They both ignored the shaky breaths over the line and didn’t say anything else when R came back, voice still wobbly, _“Take the next right and then there will be a window. It’s a single story up but you two will need as much time as you can get to keep up with Moriarty.”_

James jumped out of the window and rolled. He heard two shots from Alec’s rifle but kept going, trusting the other agent to tell him when he needed to watch his six.

_“Reloading in 3…2…1.”_

As soon as Alec got to one, James spun around and fired his own shots, now walking backwards to continue making ground to where his partner was, “Is Q’s tracker still live R?”

_“Yes.”_

“Which direction?” He finally got to where Alec was shooting for cover. James picked up some of the unneeded things and trusted 006 to grab and go. They quickly loaded up their car and peeled out onto the street.

_“East, take the next left. It’s off-roading but I’m sure you have some experience in that area.”_

“You would be correct.” Alec replied as he held onto the handle. Some turns were a little too fast to lean with. He looked at James with a grim face and 007 just focused on the road. Alec could tell with the downward turn of his lips what he was thinking.

_“They stopped. I think they’re trading cars. Yes, I’ve got them on camera, blue minivan.”_ R sounded a bit more like herself and both agents knew that she was starting to separate from the situation. There were a few sniffs that barely traveled over the lines of communication that gave away that she wasn’t as put together as she seemed.

James finally made it out onto the street and immediately sped up. He knew that if the criminal got away again Q’s chances of survival would deteriorate fast. If cargo was worth more trouble than the pay off, it just stands to reason that they would dump the cargo.

_“Um, I’m getting a message from someone in the British Government?”_

James and Alec traded glances at the change of tone and then looked back to the road, both of them searching for the blue minivan.

_“It’s from someone higher than M. It says ‘tell your agents not to shoot the people in the silver cars.’ So I guess don’t shoot the people in the silver cars.”_

They saw a group behind them as perfect timing as ever. The cars flanked James and he tensed, not liking the unknown. Alec was the same. 007’s phone rang and Alec deftly picked it up, not wanting the other agent to split even more attention while he was driving.

“Text that says ’ _Have_ _fun_ , _SH_.’” Alec looked up from the phone with a dry look that said, “ _What_ _are_ _you_ _hiding_ _from_ _me?_ ”

James just let out a breath of air that sounded like a laugh, “One of the most powerful men in government.” He said under his breath, recalling what Sherlock had said to him, he then turned to Alec and smirked, “Things just got interesting.”

~~~

Back at the original compound, 003’s body twitched. A pained grunt came from her as she slowly lifted herself from the floor. She looked down at the wound that she knew she had to take in order to slip away from the chaos. August pulled the knife free from her side and held her hand over the area to keep the blood flow minimal.

She knew that Moriarty would aim for her heart, so she had to quickly turn as it came close enough to grab and crumple to the floor. The tricky part was making it look like he got her. Luckily she had pulled that move before. As one of the men leaned down to check her pulse, she stopped her heartbeat for the few seconds it took for him to hold his hand to her neck. It was something that all agents trained themselves to do right when they got promoted to Double-Oh status.

003 glanced around and saw her ear piece lying on the floor, it was smashed to bits, someone must have stepped on it as they were all leaving. It looked like she would be flying blind until she got contact again. But agent Riley also had heard snippets of conversation as everyone was leaving so she knew where they were headed.

Using the knife, she ripped off a piece of another body’s pant leg for a makeshift bandage around her side. Tying it tightly she bent a small amount in each direction to make sure it wouldn’t come off. After being satisfied she smiled to herself.

Time to get back in the game.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ive realized that my social life is nonexistent. the only social interaction i get is when im at school or work. i dont like adulting :/ oh well.
> 
> in other news, i passed two more mixology tests! wooo


	8. Ch. 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So much action and Q finally realizes something...

_“They stopped at another building, looking from over-head it seems like a convention center.”_

James grunted his assent and made another quick turn. He had ignored Alec’s questioning gaze in favor of paying attention to the road. They both knew it was an avoidance technique, Alec also knew to let it slide. All it proved was that the silver cars following them were indeed trustworthy.

_“There are a couple dozen people guarding the entrance of the center, I would suggest a quiet infiltration but I also am quite aware of your habits.”_

James nodded, not giving R a verbal answer and just pulled into the long stretch of road that led towards the building. He aimed the car as some of Moriarty’s thugs started to try to shoot at them.

Alec, while James was ducking lower to avoid getting shot on accident, stuck his arm and head out of his own window to shoot back. He ignored the people in front of them since James was taking care of them with the front of the car. Alec, instead, focused on the sides that were missed and managed not to get shot the entire way.

“I swear you have a death wish.” James mumbled as he got out of the car. They both knew the unspoken plan, it was practically the same as the first attempt, just with one less Double-Oh accompanying Bond. 007’s mood soured the slightest bit at the memory of his lost coworker, but ignored the feeling for now.

Alec saluted his friend before switching seats and driving off towards a good vantage point to help snipe off some of the more dangerous people.

The horde of silver cars stopped when James did and, instead of following Alec as he drove off, the people that had gotten out grouped up and started following James into the building. The agent had a small flash of déjà-vu from his past when he was a commander before focusing on the mission at hand.

The group infiltrated the convention center swiftly and quietly. That alone made Bond nervous since their arrival wasn’t all that quiet. Aside from the directions given to him in his ear piece, the only communication was through hand signals that hadn’t changed in the years after he left his service. James managed to split them into two different teams since the center was a big one and his own team followed behind as if they had been on the same platoon for years. James couldn’t help but feel a bit elated at the competency of the other people.  
  
He was just managing to turn another corner when gunfire erupted from in front of his group. Bond returned fire and then took cover behind a few pillars. He watched as the people that were at his flank take cover and return fire as well.

James allowed himself to smirk for a moment while he shot at the offending people. The increased amount of guards in the area meant that Q was near by. All they had to do now was find him and get him out of there. James heard the loud sound of a rifle firing at the same time as glass shattering. Looks like Alec found a good spot to help out from.

Having the other Double-Oh shooting from the outside was a bit of a relief. James knew that the area just beyond the hallway that they were stuck at had large windows overlooking the city so he just had to push them backwards far enough that Alec would be able to take out more people.

Making the appropriate hand motions to his temporary crew, they set forward in tandem and effectively started to inch towards the enemies. With each advance the hired help of Moriarty was retreating that much more and soon enough the sounds of rifle fire joined the gunfire in the hallways. James likened it to a symphony of sound and in a few moments he continued onwards.

They checked each room for both the Quartermaster and in case of traps set up (i.e. Bombs.) and continued on through the main hallway. There were a few people in strategic positions as they advanced but for every person lost, there was at least five from the other group. James idly wondered if there was a secret program in the works training more agents.

He did a quick glance down the next hallway and immediately knew that they had found it. The guards were holding automatic rifles and there was quite a few of them. As soon as James had poked his head around the corner they had started firing. He communicated that there wasn’t any good cover for the men to hide behind, that they were just relying on heavy artillery and the answering smirk on the other’s faces told James all that he needed to know.

The lack of cover was a bad idea.

One of the men threw a smoke canister that effectively blocked them from sight and James all but slid on the floor and sprayed the area. If untrained people were met with obstructed views then they typically only fired from their waist to eye level. Never lower or higher. The pained screams and sudden quiet was all Bond needed to hear before signaling his men to move forward and secure the area.

There were a few solitary shots but James ignored them in favor of checking the rooms. When he opened the last one at the end of the hallway, James saw his Quartermaster tied to a chair with a gag. Despite his want to immediately go to Q, he swept the room before going to the other and made quick work of undoing the bonds. As soon as the gag was out of his mouth, Q began to fill in his agent.

“Moriarty ordered everyone to be here, I never saw him enter the building nor did he come to see me. The last that I saw him was in the car on the way over.” He spoke quietly and accepted the gun from one of the group that 007 had come with. It was from one of the bodies in the hallway.

James gently took Q’s arm to lead him out of the door and nodded at the group. He quickly slammed the both of them into a wall as more shooting started. James’s arm was sealed over Q’s chest and behind him in accordance with the gun shots. He glanced around and saw the group take similar poses. They all knew that they were in a kill zone. They had to move fast.

Another smoke canister was released in front and they slowly advanced in a crouch towards the opening.

Q kept his automatic pointed down, he knew that his fire power wasn’t needed at the moment. When they reached the end of the hallway he saw the hand signals telling Bond to keep Q safe. Q, after all, was the focus of the mission.

James turned them away from the fight that was happening, leaving behind the team to cover, and made it to the end of the wing. It was leading them deeper into the convention hall but also away from Moriarty’s men.

Or so they thought.

James pushed them behind one of the pillars when a group of unfriendlies started shooting from in front of them. He shot back with his gun and registered Q also using his own weapon. James ducked away when he needed to reload and cursed when he realized he was on his last clip. Q had to be running out as well.

As if on cue, the boffin rotated to be behind the pillar and let his arms sag, “Out.”

James nodded and turned back out to shoot only to see that they had advanced and were trying to take them down with hand-to-hand combat. He heard the tell-tale sound of something soft hit something hard but paid it no mind since he could see that Q was still standing. James punched out another man before turning. He saw Q taking a hand gun from the body on the floor and caught it when it was passed over, “Did you just throw your gun at someone?”

Q stood up from the ground and rolled his eyes, “Don’t be silly, I used it as a bat.” James grinned.

They continued forward and managed to get into what seemed like a lounge area with couches and tables before more of Moriarty’s men showed up. This time with better tactics and weapons.

Both of them dove for cover behind a couch and table and opted to shoot from different areas. James quickly pulled Q back when he tried to shoot again. He ignored the look that went his way and audibly sighed in frustration. This was getting harder and harder.

_“James, you should really remember the fact that you have back up on this one. I can’t cover you from this position.”_

James grunted his reply and tried to shoot another person. He had Q pressed down again with his other hand at the return fire. He could feel the slight bit of ire directed at him from his companion. James thought of the pen that R had given him and smirked. He pulled it out of his inside jacket pocket and clicked it three times before throwing it over into the group.

Q stared wide eyed at him before instinctively ducking away from the explosion, “You aren’t supposed to have that!” He shouted over the sudden silence in the wake of the bomb.

James shrugged, “I don’t anymore.” He smiled at the boffin before cursing at the gunfire that had resumed. Apparently there was still a good amount of people for them to get through.

At Alec’s sudden surprised noise James paused for the smallest of moments, “What is it, Alec?” Nothing really surprises Double-Oh agents so when something does, it’s definitely worth figuring out so it’s not a constant weakness. James watched Q shoot another person before ducking down and staring at him questioningly. Not being able to be updated in real time was obviously making the Quartermaster a bit nervous.

_“*Let’s just say that you and I are apparently not the only ones with the gift of resurrection.*”_

James’s mood lifted significantly and he smirked, “Guess we’ll have to watch our backs.” He was about to relay the information to Q when Alec let out a low whistle.

Q noticed the divided attention and resigned himself to not knowing what was going on for the moment. He knew that an agent should focus on the important matters, but it didn’t mean he didn’t roll his eyes before shooting at another person.

_“She definitely has to teach me that.”_

R’s voice, which was suspiciously quiet through the exchange, finally chipped in again, _“006, Are you positive it’s her? Do you know if she has an ear piece?”_ Her voice almost seemed cold, as if she didn’t want to get her hopes up for not losing an agent. The lack of saying August’s name was also a small tell about the state of mind of the techie.

_“Negative, no ear piece but she knows that we know it’s her.”_

“How?” James asked after resuming his shooting. In the short amount of time there was a small influx of more people (how many were there?!) running after them through the hallway. ‘ _Good_ _thing_ _it_ _bottlenecks_.’ He thought to himself.

_“She flipped me off after I shot someone in her path.”_

Yep that sounded like 003.

Glass shattered above the two which made them both look up in tandem.

_“Friendly company in 5 seconds.”_

Bond held Q’s arm that was starting to lift to shoot whoever jumped through above them. They locked eyes for a moment before Q went back to shooting down the hallway. James watched as the lithe form jumped down with its own automatic (no doubt picked up on the way here.) and sprayed down the area with the most traffic.

August gave the shocked Quartermaster a jaunty wave before shooting again. When she paused to reload, she yelled over the lessened gunfire from their opponents, “Get the Quartermaster out of here, I’ll cover!” Not giving Bond a chance to reply she went right back to shooting.

Knowing that she wouldn’t let him have the last word, he ushered Q out. The Quartermaster was mumbling something about ‘bloody immortal agents’ while James said ‘Tetchy coworkers’ under his breath. Both remarks were about the agent now giving them the time to get away but it still seemed as if it was just another day around town.

Alec’s answering laugh made James curse at him as well and R just asked for a rough update after they made it safely out of the line of fire, _“And this is what I mean by teamwork James… Riley’s gone and backed them all up to the windows so I can actually help.”_ His words were only interrupted by the metronome of a rifle shooting and being cocked for the next round.

“Shut it Alec.”

Q finally stopped looking behind them as frequently and checked how much ammo he had left in his stolen gun, “Two bullets.”

James nodded and passed his own over, trading the guns with a special kind of efficiency, “I know I don’t have much either.” He scanned the quiet area, aware of the gunshots in the background and continued towards the garage located underneath the convention center, “The sooner we get out of here the better.”

Q quirked an eyebrow, “No making sure of no lose ends? I would have thought you of all people would want Moriarty’s head sooner rather than later.” He continued towards the cars as he spoke to show that he agreed with the agent.

They found a car, hot wired and just before James pealed out of the parking lot, he turned towards his Quartermaster. They locked eyes and Bond simply said, “You’re first priority.”

Q knew right away what the agent meant. He only had a split second to stare into the blue eyes before they turned away and started focusing on getting out of the building. Even as Q felt the car shift with G-force and the various curbs and tight turns, he couldn’t help but think about how much James showed that he cared about him in that moment.

The agent took the precious seconds during the escape to make sure that Q knew. The Quartermaster faced forward but didn’t see the blurred scenery passing by at high speeds. He only thought that the warm feeling that had nestled underneath his rib cage was a dangerous thing.

Q was starting to fall for James Bond.

But when he thought about it, he was already in deep. From the tenseness he got when guiding the agent out of a firefight to the small amount of warmth when James brought him a fresh cup of tea. He then realized he truly had fallen when he made the stupid exploding pen that he was saving for James’ birthday.

Damn.


	9. Ch. 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Safe at last... but for how long?

Moriarty wasn’t found among the bodies inside of the convention center. After a quick check from the specialty team, all of the mess was cleaned up as if nothing ever happened and the three Double-Oh agents and Quartermaster were on their way back to MI6 in a special plane. One that Q needed to psych himself up for. But with 007 on his right and parachutes in clear sight to his left he was able to keep his heart rate at a semi-steady rhythm.

Q ignored the other two agents and kept his hands on his knees, periodically squeezing them to keep himself grounded as well as keeping his hands to himself. Something that he craved was physical touch at the moment but refused to let agents Riley and Trevelyan see that.

Bond was more perceptive than what people thought (also careless of his coworker’s feelings towards him) so he proceeded to gently hold his Quartermaster’s hand. He made sure that Q didn’t pull out of his grip for the first few seconds and kept his smile down when Q relaxed a bit more.

Riley was on her phone and after a few moments turned towards Alec, “Can I borrow your earpiece?” It was asked in a serious manner so Alec kept his own remarks to himself, instead opting to hand it over.

Riley nodded in thanks before she started talking, “003 checking in.” She watched Alec close his eyes and promptly fall asleep. He was like a bear sometimes, just falling asleep anywhere.

Q absentmindedly listened to her one-sided conversation with closed eyes. He figured that R was still stressed from losing an agent and probably half-believed that August wasn’t alive. He relaxed against Bond’s side, letting the warmth of the agent seep through his clothing.

_“Yeah, someone managed to step on it as they were leaving…. Small patch job, same as the Guam mission….exactly the same actually….I know, I’m pretty lucky….”_ A sigh and then softer speaking _, “Check your email, yeah? I have to return Alec’s earpiece now so I’ll see you for check in at MI6.”_

Q felt Bond shift a bit partway through the conversation and remembered that he also had an earpiece that was turned on. Well, there went that secret. Then again with the near death experience Q doubted that R would continue to deny her relationship with the other Double-Oh. He idly wondered how many people didn’t know and then figured that he didn’t really care.

  
It was only a matter of seconds before he too fell into a light sleep.

_____

When the plane landed on the hele-pad that was located to the right of MI6’s base, the small crowd that was present was larger than any of the returning agents would have figured.

James noted M, R, both of the Sherlocks and another person that was almost too prideful for his own good along with another lady who was seemingly entranced on her phone next to him. Bond hid his surprise as if it didn’t even register and helped get Q ready to leave the plane.

Alec was more open about his curiosity and August had her head tilted at the small entourage that was gathered. Alec left the plane first and made to take R’s hand to give it a kiss but was taken aback when she sidestepped him and went right into hugging agent Riley who was behind Alec. James and Q watched from their place on the steps.

As he was passing the two, Q gently placed a hand on R’s shoulder and squeezed it. He continued on after she turned her head and smiled.

Alec, finally recovering from his shock called out to the techie, “You know we all risked our lives, are we all going to get that kind of welcome?”

August opened her mouth to retort but R cut her off, “You’re not my girlfriend, Alec.” and with that R took the surprised Double-Oh’s head and kissed her.

Q chuckled lightly and shook his head, “There goes that secret.” He turned back towards his employer and nodded, “M, can we move this inside?” He felt 007 silently following as if he was a guard dog and relaxed that much more. The funny feeling that Q had during the rescue hadn’t subsided and he wondered if he should tell the agent about the new development.

As his oldest brother ushered them all inside of the building Q had made up his mind. It wasn’t the time for that, there was still an insane consulting criminal on the loose that no doubt still wanted the Quartermaster of MI6. It could wait until after they all had it sorted out and that threat was taken care of.

Q also figured he would see how everyone reacted to R and 003 and base his actions on that. The general public of MI6 could be a bit hard to manage but then again the Double-Ohs were a group that no one trifled with. If someone messed with one of their own then watch out.

He ignored his other brother’s quirked eyebrow and subtle glances in between himself and the agent for now. Sherlock would no doubt start rubbing it in his face if Q gave him any semblance of acceptance. His cousin was a whole other story that he didn’t want to think about at the current moment.

Although hearing the two bicker at each other was calming. It was a sign that he was back home and out of immediate danger. The arguing was almost relaxing in a way that Q was wondering if he should go to the psych department.

That could wait too.

At the moment he just needed to be debriefed and drink a hot cup of tea. And maybe he could convince James into a quick stress relieving shag. It shouldn’t be that difficult.

Q’s attention was brought back when Mycroft cleared his throat. They were all seated in a conference room that had a wide rounded rectangle desk in the center with chairs surrounding it. Q noticed the lack of a certain army doctor before looking to his boss. M had taken residence next to Mycroft at the head of the table.

“For all of you unaware, this is Mycroft Holmes. He holds a very high place in the government.” M nodded to Mycroft.

Q slid his eyes to his brother when he started to talk. It was no doubt about his time in captivity and what to expect now so he let his mind wander instead of listening. Q glanced to his other brother who was so focused that Q knew Sherlock was faking.

The boffin relaxed back into his chair, knowing that Mycroft was long winded and inaudibly sighed. Q thought about actually allowing his feelings with James to fester and what it would mean in the long run. The pros and cons of dating a Double-Oh agent. He had seen first hand a little of what R had went through with August and wondered if he could do that. To be able to stamp down the worry and continue to carry out missions as if someone he cared deeply for hadn’t just been killed. Listening to them being tortured. Possibly listening to each shallow breath, not knowing which one was the last.

It sounded horrible.

Q looked to James who was seated to his left. The man was listening attentively to Mycroft, a picture of the perfect agent. (load of bull.) Q took in his facial structure, the cut of his jaw line and short blonde hair. The icy blue eyes that had slight lines shooting straight out from the corners.

Could Q really act as if nothing had changed in those few moments in the parking garage? Could he ignore the fluttering feeling in his chest every time James looked at him with those beautiful eyes and smile? Could Q stomp out the glowing embers of emotion before they flickered into a flame? Taking in the group around the table and the situation that they were in Q came to a decision.

Yes he could. He would have to. For both of their sakes. And the first step would be to end the thing that they had going on right now.

Q let his attention return to his brother who was now talking about protective measures and offensive plans. Moriarty was the priority right now. Once they had this mess sorted out, Q would break the news to James and end this physical relationship between them. It was the right thing to do after all. Being the Quartermaster meant that he had to keep a level head and not pick favorites. He needed to stay removed from the group so that his effectiveness of being the Quartermaster wouldn’t be thrown into question.

Q took one last glance at James, memorizing everything before Q ruins it. He swallowed and let his eyes drift down to the table. It figured that the person he ended up falling for would be someone that was off limits. This was going to hurt.

_____

After the small meeting they separated into their own little groups. Mallory and the Double-Ohs were in their group discussing the plans in more detail and all of the family in another.

Q stood between the two Sherlocks as a force of habit and gave his oldest brother a half smile, “Hello Mycroft.”

Mycroft tilted his head downward slightly and raised an eyebrow, “You’re going to have to fix that problem.” He glanced to the other group, trusting that Q would know what he meant.

Q just nodded, “It’s in the process of being fixed.” He said with a small sigh.

Sherlock had stopped bickering with his cousin for the most part and glanced at his youngest brother, “That serious already?”

Q was about to answer in the affirmative when Mycroft beat him to the punch, “He might not fall too often but when he does, it is hard and fast.” Q glowered and stuffed his hands into his pockets. Relationships were not his thing. They always failed because of his work ethic and lack of attention on his own part.

Sherlock nodded, “True, but it seems as if this one would have stood a better chance.” he remarked it in a way that sounded like he didn’t care. And if there was one thing that Q hated, it was when his brothers talked about him with an air of indifference.

Mycroft huffed, “Don’t be ridiculous brother, there is an issue of workplace favoritism.”

Q could tell that he was going to continue on a rant about dating in the workplace and how relationships are stupid attempts at making ones self feeling like they have a place that they belong in the world so he said; “I don’t need to deal with this right now.” and left the room. It probably caught Mycroft off guard but Q didn’t care at the moment.

He caught his cousin saying something too low for him to hear but paid it no mind. Instead Q headed for the bathroom to rinse his face with cool water. He let himself stew for a few moments before relaxing and letting it go. Q had grown up with them and while they could get under his skin it wasn’t like they meant it in a mean way. Q knew that, and it was the reason why he was able to let things go so well with his brothers.

He was throwing away the paper towels that he used to dry off his face when the door opened. Q sighed and closed his eyes, “What do you want?” He asked quietly.

Sherlock just tilted his head, “That is my question for you, cousin.” He stood in front of the door, blocking it from opening just so he could have a few private moments with Q.

The younger opened his eyes to give Sherlock a flat look, the silence held for a few moments before Q blew a breath through his mouth, “I swear, your family is ridiculous.”

Sherlock let a small smile play on his lips before nodding in acceptance, “Yes, although they are your family as well.” He took a few more steps into the bathroom and joined Q at the sink. They stared at each other’s reflections for a few moments before Q broke the silence again.

“You and I share the same amount of genes with the both of them.” Q was speaking to his own reflection rather than his cousin’s, “I often wonder how they ended up like that and-” Q abruptly cut himself off. He sighed and let his eyes fall to the sink, “Sometimes it doesn’t seem like we’re actually brothers. Like something’s wrong with me.” He finished quietly.

Sherlock watched his cousin through the mental train of thought and nodded after he finished. The taller turned to face away from the sink and instead, leaned his back against it, “It is obvious that you don’t fit in.” He let that statement hang for a few seconds, “However, from what I have seen, you pull them together. And I can say with absolute certainty that they do care for you.” He turned to look Q in the eyes, “It is just a family trait that we can’t accurately display feelings of affection.” He smirked a little bit, “A trait that seemingly skipped over you.”

Q chuckled lightly, “No, I’m just a marvelous actor.”

Both family members laughed lightly and after Sherlock gestured to the door, Q exited the bathroom feeling a lot better than when he had entered it.

He held the door to the conference room open in a polite gesture for his cousin and when he looked to the room he saw all eyes were on him. Q tensed and immediately looked to his brothers. They were both tense as well.

Something was wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hoo boy am i exhausted. i just gotta stick it out for another few hours and then i can relax for a bit :) hope you enjoyed this!


	10. Ch. 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh-oh spaghettios....

A video. That blasted villain published a video and rigged it to show on loop on every public screen. Mycroft’s assistant had brought it to attention while Q and his cousin were talking.

Moriarty had offered a substantial amount of money to the person/people who helps him find Q. It was also worrying that he had Q’s picture as well. But then again, the Quartermaster had just spent a long amount of time with the bastard. It was almost expected that Moriarty had some type of photographs of the stolen party.

Phones were chiming from various people no doubt asking about the video. Q ignored all of it. Instead he was staring at the desk that he was bracing his hands against. He was managing his breathing over the static in his ears, only just managing. Q could tell that a panic attack was on the verge of happening but he needed to keep it together.

The sudden quiet pulled him from his concentration and he looked up. The screen in the room flickered on and started to display another message. Simply in text, but Q’s mind had also zeroed in on the words that were typing themselves on the screens.

“Peek-a-boo.”

Q’s mind raced. He had never successfully hacked MI6 in Moriarty’s presence so the criminal didn’t actually have a way to get into the servers unless-. Q drew himself to his full height and started to use his mission Quartermaster voice, “007, 003 with me, 006 find a back way into the underground levels and make sure you don’t engage with any hostiles until you have another back up.” Q quickly unlocked his phone and sent a few texts, “I am sending 008 to meet you down there and 002 will be on lookout for the time being.” He started to walk out of the conference room when R called out behind him.

He didn’t bother answering her but he did turn around and made sure the agents were following his orders. Q looked at his family, “You are all high profile targets for him. Stay hidden.” He turned to M, “Moriarty is in this building. The only way to bypass all of the firewalls is in the server room beneath Q-branch. I am going to face him head on and if that gets me fired then so be it.” With that he turned and walked away with two Double-Oh agents following behind.

Q made a small pit-stop in R & D before continuing. They all switched out the near empty firearms and were now mission ready. The two agents covered efficiently and Q sometimes let them go ahead since he wasn’t as field trained as the two. The server room, however, was his own territory. He took point and made sure to check the aisles between the box towers before investigating the plug-in that was sitting on the floor near the middle of the room.

As soon as he knelt down to pick it up, both agents covered both of his sides. Q carefully delved into the inner-mechanics of the phone and had it disconnected in a few seconds. He pocketed the phone for evidence before speaking into the comm unit that they had taken from R & D as well, “Q to anyone online. No sightings but the target has been in the server room. Keep your eyes open.”

James muttered, “And your gun loaded.”

August quietly strode forward with her gun raised to glance down the hallway, “Clear.”

Q had a bad feeling settling in his stomach. Where was Moriarty? And just as he thought that, Alec’s voice came through the line.

_“Sighting on level 2. He has friends.”_

_"Of course he does, he has an unlimited amount of resources."_

Q almost let his surprise show at hearing his brother’s voice through the communication unit, “Mr. Holmes, why are you online?” He asked, barely covering the ‘how’ that he really wanted to ask.

_"To provide insight, I am the resident expert."_

Q was about to reply when an unimpressed scoff sounded through his earpiece. This time he couldn’t hide his surprise at the equally dry voice.

_"That title can be up for debate."_

Q had actually stopped his progress with the two Double-Oh agents to make sure his message was clear. He knew that he had to interrupt before the two cousins started to argue on a communication channel, “If you two could have radio silence that would be much appreciated. Unless it is helping our current predicament, I, kindly, am asking you to shut it.” The silence that answered him was almost too good to be true.

When he got back to M he might have to have a talk about handing out earpieces to civilians. Assuming that he still had a job that is. Although they probably appealed to a logical standpoint so Q decided to let it go just this once. He continued on to level two with the two agents and paused when he noticed that 006 and 008 were there waiting for them, “Report.” He kept his vigilance up while listening, as did the other two agents.

Alec sighed in frustration, “Everyone with him had gas masks, we only caught a glance but they did look military grade.” He glanced back to where they probably had disappeared through and shook his head minutely, “We didn’t want to risk pursuing just in case there is a bigger threat we didn’t know about.”

008 spoke up from his spot, gun still aimed at the closed door at the end of the hallway, “Quiet evac. has already started. We don’t want them to activate anything in a hurry.” He said gruffly.

Q had a brief thought wondering if 008 was ill before mentally shaking himself to get back on track, “Right, Thank you 008.” He thought for a few seconds and glanced between the four agents around him, “Alright,” He turned off his comm unit and turned to the two agents, “006, 008, I want you two to locate M, there should be a group with him. You need to personally escort all of them outside and clear from the building.” He held up a hand at the complaint that started to form on Alec’s lips, “There will be two gentlemen that will no doubt be adverse to this idea and they are very crafty so you both will be needed.”

He watched them leave and then turned to his two escorts, “Judging from the camera that is trained on that door, if anyone but myself tries to open it, a trap will be activated.” He let the silence hang for a few seconds and then nodded to himself.

James stepped forward, reaching for his arm, “Q.” He stopped when the Quartermaster stepped out of reach.

Q shook his head and then looked back to the door, “I am the high profile target, he wont let anything happen to me.” Q looked back to the two agents, both with varying emotions, “I can’t, in good conscience, let any one of my agents die when I can prevent it.” He continued quietly, “If that door stays open after I enter, I give you permission to come after me, however, if it closes, retreat and regroup with the rest of the agents.” Q gave them a humorless smile, “Consult the two Sherlocks about Moriarty’s ways and don’t let them fight about it.”

With that he turned and started to walk down the hall. But not before his wrist was grabbed and he was rotated and pulled back into a solid chest. Q barely had any time to react when James tilted his head and kissed him.

It startled a small noise from the Quartermaster that was swallowed by the Double-Oh agent. Q let his eyes slide close and gently ran his fingers through the short blonde hair before slightly pulling at it to cease the kiss. He had to straighten his glasses and cleared his throat, “Right.” Not letting himself say anything more he turned and started to walk towards the door again.

He tried to dis-spell any thoughts on the kiss that he had just received but when he reached out to grasp the door handle he couldn’t help but think that it would be the last time he would get to kiss James Bond. If the feeling in his stomach and his ever amazing luck were anything to go by, Q was probably up on his quota of escaping death for multiple years by now.

He opened the door, stepped into the next room and immediately saw Moriarty’s smirking face. He seemed more amused than he had ever been before which did not bode well for the boffin. The sound of a closing door echoed from behind Q and he forced himself to relax his tense shoulders.

“That was quite a show.” he said gesturing to the small set of screens to his left, “I am learning more and more about you Quartermaster.“ Moriarty picked up a controller and turned it around in his hands, “Some very interesting things have popped up in my short time here.” He grinned at Q’s obvious uneasiness and gestured to a chair, “Please sit.”

Q clenched his hands into fists, “I’d rather stand.” he answered cooly. He didn’t expect hands roughly pushing him into the chair.

“I insist.” Moriarty replied venomously. He watched his help tie the Quartermaster securely to the chair and paced slowly in front of him, “You know Quartermaster, I trusted that you wouldn’t lie to me since you were so interesting at the beginning but-” He sighed and scratched at his head with the remote, “I suppose I shouldn’t put so much faith in a kidnappee agreeing to certain terms, so that was my bad.” He chuckled before turning the remote in his hands again.

Q watched the man warily and swallowed the excess saliva that had gathered in his mouth. He opted not to talk.

Moriarty looked back to his prey with cold eyes, “But for some reason I expected you to be better than my usual.” He rolled his eyes, “Oh well.”

Finally Q took a small chance, “What are you talking about, I told you the truth about everything.” He feebly pulled at the bindings on his wrists, half wishing that the Double-Oh agents barged in and put a bullet inside of the criminal’s head. But of course the one time that they follow orders is the one time they shouldn’t.

Moriarty regarded the tied up man blankly before fiddling with the remote again, “Is that so.” He pressed a button as he pointed the controller over his shoulder and a second later Q’s voice penetrated the quiet of the room.

_“What do you want?”_

Q’s stomach plummeted. He swore he could feel all of his blood drain from his face as well.

_“That is my question for you, cousin.”_

Shit. Shitshitshitshitshitshit

_“I swear, your family is ridiculous.”_

Q allowed himself to lift his gaze to Moriarty’s and pulled at his bindings with renewed vigor.

_“Yes, although they are your family as well.”_

Moriarty stepped closer and bent forward to stare into Q’s eyes, he quietly said, “This next part is my favorite.” in that small silence of the recording and tilted his head slightly as Q’s voice drifted out again.

 _“You and I share the same amount of genes with the both of them… I often wonder how they ended up like that and-"_   A sigh. " _…Sometimes it doesn’t seem like we’re actually brothers…”_

Moriarty pressed the button to pause the recording again and leaned forward, using the arm rests on the chair to prop himself steadily in front of Q, “Now, Now my dear Quartermaster…”

Q swallowed again and tried to lean as far away from the other as he could.

“If I had known you were dear Sherlock’s baby brother-” Moriarty stroked the side of Q’s face delicately with the remote, He smiled at Q’s small flinch and continued in a quiet, almost whispering voice, “I would have gone about this whole thing very differently.” Moriarty smiled and licked his bottom lip, “Then again,” He straightened and handed his remote to another person. Moriarty turned and started walking away from Q, “Now that I know this important piece of information, I can do this properly.”

Q jumped when a rag sealed itself over his nose and mouth. He tried to struggle against the harsh smell of chloroform but felt his muscles start to relax of their own accord. He dimly heard Moriarty’s last words before he succumbed to the darkness.

“Sherlock is in for a special treat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so tired. been a busy week and it will continue for an undefined amount of time. someone please make me catch a bad sickness and force me not to go to work or school.


	11. Ch. 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully someone makes it to Q in time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains brief descriptions of suffocation and alludes to torture with a knife.

The two Double-Oh agents had started to make their ways toward the door but paused when it shut. James had half a mind to disobey the orders from his Quartermaster but decided that he would rather play the odds when he himself was the only one on the chopping block. Besides, he was no good to Q if he managed to get himself and August killed.

Both of them cursed and immediately turned to find the group that was with M. August kept her gun raised and talked into her earpiece as they covered each other through the hallways, “Update, he’s got Q. Location on the two Moriarty masters?” she kept her tone even to hide how angry she was but everyone knew better.

_”What?!”_

_”How could that happen?! Aren’t you supposed to be trained for that to not happen?!”_

August bristled but refused to reply. James spared her a glance and started talking before the war would start, “Location, Mr. Holmes.”

008’s gruff voice answered him, “M’s office, the Quartermaster was right in that both 006 and I were going to be needed. They wouldn’t budge and one of them threatened a re-vamp of the program.”

James breathed evenly through his nose and continued through MI6 to his boss’s office. The fact that they had put up a fight meant that he and agent Riley could get to them faster. And since they could get to them faster that meant they could get Q back faster. Bond was more focused on time saving than anything and was almost happy that the family had put their foot down.

Finally reaching the room, he knocked a few times as Riley covered the hall. He saw the nearby camera was pointed towards them and knew that R was with them. The door unlocked to let them in and he nodded to the other agent.

They entered Moneypenny’s office and went straight through to M’s. The group of people were forming a semi circle around R who was typing away at the computer. The other two Double-Oh agents were near the door where 007 and 003 entered in a strategic positioning. Skipping the pleasantries, 007 made a bee-line towards the two Sherlocks.

Everyone noticed the laser focus and the two straightened and met him at the edge of the table.

“I’ll need all possible things that might be going on in this mad man’s head.” His voice left no room for their usual bickering. James was sure that they didn’t need the reminder of the dire situation but his own stress of having Q for the shortest of moments before he was stolen away again was leaking through.

The brother and cousin nodded and started to list things that were possibilities. It was almost as if they had rehearsed the whole thing since they were basically finishing each other’s sentences. It was surprisingly easy to follow them but everyone quieted when an audible gasp from R was heard.

She immediately turned up the volume and pushed the laptop further away so the group could see it.

Moriarty was tapping on the camera, “Hello? Is this on?” He brightened and stepped back so that it wasn’t just his face in the screen, “Ah, well then, let’s get this show on the road!” The man giggled and clapped his hands together, “Now when I first started on this endeavor I just wanted certain MI6 classified files and possibly to turn one of the greatest hackers on the planet to my side but what I didn’t imagine was…” He trailed off and gestured behind him, “that I could get Sherlock Holmes’s little brother!” He laughed out loud and bounced a bit in his spot.

Behind him was Q, who was obviously unconscious, strapped on a table.

Moriarty grinned at the camera again, “You tried really hard to keep this one from me, and I have to say Sherlock,” He glanced back again, “I can see why.” He raised his eyebrows in a lewd gesture and started to pace towards his captive.

James growled low in his throat before clenching his fists, “Can you get a lock on his stream?” at R’s lack of response he turned his glare to the techie, “Can you?!”

R jumped and started to type, “Uh, uh, I should if he used a simple terminal-” She made the screen smaller but didn’t close or minimize it in order to keep tabs on the two. Moriarty’s voice kept coming through the speakers as R worked her way through the connection.

_“It’s astounding how much he has in common with you. The features are… It’s almost as if you’re twins!”_

James paid no attention to the hacking progress. He kept his eyes on Q, lying prone on the table, unable to defend himself from the hand that was caressing his face. James was now holding onto the back of the chair with both of his hands, he could tell that he was standing as still as he had ever been. His anger was freezing his muscles in place and James knew that he wouldn’t be able to vent his white hot fury until he had a target to point it at.

Fortunately R managed to get a lock and after reading the location, 007 glanced to 006 and nodded. They quickly started on their way out. Aware of but uncaring about the other following them.

They were all quiet as they made their way through the building. Too engrossed and angry at the turn of events to offer any comments about the current focus. Bond and Trevelyan simply nodded at Sherlock after leaving the room, after all, the more the merrier in this case. James couldn’t see the point in making the brother turn back. He knew they were practically the same being in regards to stubbornness so 007 figured it would be a waste of time.

Coming up to the door, the three of them wasted no time in kicking the door down and both of the Double-Oh agents had their guns trained forwards.

The room was empty, save for a laptop that was open and facing the door.

Moriarty was piggybacking the signal.

And the man in question was on the laptop screen, grinning at them, “Glad to have you join me, my lovelies!” He pointed at the screen and winked, “Couldn’t have you spoiling my fun before I’ve begun now can we?”

James wondered if he could just shoot the laptop and be done with the man’s games. He glanced to Alec who was barely holding himself together as well. Then his attention was taken by Sherlock who had strode forward to the screen and leaned forward.

“I’m here Moriarty, let go of him.”

Moriarty giggled, “Now why would I give up the most valuable poker chip that I have found to date?!” He glanced back at Q who was still lying on the table unconscious, “I have both you and your older brother, _as_ _well_ _as_  the entirety of MI6 in my back pocket with this piece of real estate.” He said as he ruffled the dark locks of hair.

Q started to stir at that.

Moriarty’s eyes brightened, “Oh, he’s starting to wake up!” He went around the table so that he was hovering over Q’s head and waited for the other man to open his eyes.

Q let out a small groan for the headache that was encompassing the area behind his eyes. His throat was dry and Q could feel a slight bite from the after-effects of the chloroform in his nose that was making him a bit dizzy. When he opened his eyes, he automatically focused on the slightly blurry form that was right above his face. Q closed them again when he saw that it was Moriarty and turned his face to the side.

“Ah, ah, ah, Quartermaster, you should say ‘hi’ to our audience!”

Q opened his eyes again and felt a hand turn his head the other way. When he saw the screen and three angered faces, Q couldn’t help but relax the tiniest bit. At least there was some sort of presence that was familiar. It didn’t ease his nervousness about being in a room, alone, with the psychopath but it was better than when he was in the USA. He managed a small smile to the camera before Moriarty started talking again.

“Who should I target first, Quartermaster?” Moriarty grinned when Q’s eyes met his, “Should I go with your brother or with MI6?”

Q decided to keep quiet and tug at the restraints. He knew that either way was bad for him. Moriarty was making him choose between two different tortures and the odds where that the maniac was going to throw both of them at Q anyways.

The bound man glanced at the video again when the other walked out of his eyesight. He noticed James’ cheek flex as if he was clenching his teeth. Q’s eyes drifted to Sherlock who had his hands fisted so tight that if anything were in them it surely would have broken. He saw his brother’s hands relax before clenching again.

Distantly he heard a rustling of a plastic bag and took a deep breath. Q felt his hands start to shake in distress and tried to struggle free more violently. He felt a burning sensation behind his eyes and shook his head when Moriarty came to stand next to his head again. He was starting to feel desperate, like a trapped animal, about the impending torture. And he knew that was all he was to Moriarty. A poker chip.

“Don’t worry Quartermaster, I’m not going to let you die yet.” He wrapped the bag around Q’s head and smirked at the laptop as the body started to writhe, “Where would the fun be in that?”

Q struggled against his bindings. He tried to breath in but the bag was constricting any oxygen intake. The burning in his lungs made his body start to arch against the table. His body spasmed more wildly and he felt tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. Q’s vision started to blur and then fade to black as his body tensed for a longer period of time. His body slowly became limp and just as the blackness was about to overcome his sight the bag was ripped free.

His first breath was haggard and caused Q to start coughing. But he didn’t care. He could breath again. Q didn’t register the pitiful sounds he was making until he heard a growl from the screen. Remembering that he wasn’t alone in this his eyes shot to the computer.

James’ face was filled with fury.

Alec’s face was filled with fury.

And Sherlock’s was shut down entirely.

Moriarty’s voice broke through his focus and Q glanced back to his captor, “What should we do next?” Moriarty placed his arm against Q’s chest and supported his head with his hand, “I do have so many ideas.” He gazed at Q for a few moments before smiling.

Q looked away from Moriarty and back to the screen. He noticed a slight tick from James and Alec. A barely concealed movement to acknowledge an order. Q had worked with them for a long enough time to know what their tells were and something was happening. Knowing that, Q turned back to Moriarty with a glare.

The man’s eyes lit up with amusement before he slid off of Q’s chest, “Still have some fight then? I wouldn’t expect any less from a Holmes.” He walked out of Q’s line of sight and continued to talk, “However, knowing that you’re the youngest and have only half of their shared genes, I am willing to bet that you would be easier to break.”

Q glanced back to the screen and barely nodded. He needed them to know that he knew they were doing something. R was no doubt watching from somewhere. And the fact that they were staying in one spot for an extended period of time was helping with a location.

Moriarty came back with a bounce in his step holding a knife, “Well, then Quartermaster.” His face grew serious, “Will you tell me your name?” He tilted the knife so that it caught the light from the fluorescents above them and shined it into Q’s eyes.

Q let his eyes drift to the ceiling and shut down his face. Moriarty would get nothing from him. He clenched his hands and forced himself not to shake. Q had to believe in his team. They would get there in time. Moriarty only wanted to hurt him, not kill him.

Therein lied the problem.

\----

R worked furiously on her computer. She knew something was wrong from the lack of gunshots when the three bursted into the room. And judging from their continued silence when Moriarty flaunted it, they knew not to go running around until she told them where to go.

She kept pulling up different screens to run different location traces and had set her computer to automatically shut down the window if it led to the same place that the two agents and Sherlock were. R was distantly aware of the other two agents flanking either side of her, watching the screen that had the Quartermaster on it.

Everyone in the room was quiet and they all continued to be silent when Moriarty wrapped the bag around the Quartermaster’s head. R’s gaze flicked briefly to Mycroft when he tightened his grip on his umbrella enough to make it protest but didn’t let it faze her. She knew that she was the only hope at the moment. R just wished that it all didn’t land on her shoulders at the moment. It was a metric ton of stress.

003 leaned forward and supported herself against the table. She stared at the screen for a few moments before asking, “Have you tried Q’s implant?”

R shook her head and pushed her bangs back in distress, “I was rendered inert when we got here. It was one of the first things that Q did so he couldn’t be tracked by anyone else.” Her tone of voice made it obvious of what she thought about that.

August nodded before focusing back on the screen where the lines of code were being display. She blinked when she saw something. She pointed to the code, “Look, there.”

R expanded the screen as full as she could without covering Q’s feed and watched the constant data stream, “What?”

Agent Riley pointed again, “There’s a pattern. It looks like a loop.” She looked at R as she continued, “Is it possible that Moriarty is looping your own searches?”

R paused for a second before going back to typing. Seeing that same pattern made her let out a breath. “Yeah, oh, I love you, you’re a genius, August.” She didn’t pay any mind to the other agent as she started to work her magic on the machine. She missed August’s hand spasm and freeze in shock.

008 looked at the other agent with a quirked eyebrow before letting the corner of his mouth lift slightly. 003 punched him.

“I got it, 007, 006, and Sherlock stay put and don’t let Moriarty know anything. I’m sending Agents Riley and Boyd to intercept.” R displayed the address for the two agents and watched them leave the room. She swallowed and took a deep breath before looking through the CC of the building to guide them through the best path.

“It looks like he has only a few helpers here, but you will run into some of them. I would say take them out quietly as to not tip him off.”

She knew that in a silent mission mode they wouldn’t be able to answer back but her knowledge didn’t do anything to calm the roiling in her stomach. It was the reason why she always felt uncomfortable with leading any missions, her mind always shot to the worst case scenario.

“One around the corner with an automatic. He’s turning away from you in 3…2…1.”

R watched as 003 ran quietly towards the man right before 008 shot him. Riley caught the man as he fell and lowered him gently to the floor. She switched to the next camera hoping they would continue working this well.

R heard the umbrella creak again and she glanced at the screen where Q and Moriarty were. She immediately looked away, R was always squeamish about blood. She then became aware of James’ growling. R didn’t want to know how much anger the man had pent up at the moment.

She took a deep breath and guided the two agents through two more hallways of goons before tapping a command, “As soon as I hit enter the door will unlock-” She glanced at M who nodded, “You have orders to kill. Pressing now.” R hit enter and kept her eyes trained on the bottom corner of the screen that Q and Moriarty were at. No matter who she was guiding, or who they were gunning for, the act of killing still didn’t sit right with her. She couldn’t bring herself to see a real death.

The sound of the door swinging open followed by three silencer shots echoed through the earpieces and speakers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I didn't give the kill to James. I figured this would be a bit more stressful. Also, very sudden right? I personally feel like this was a bit jarring when I re-read it over again but eh, this story could only go on for so long.


	12. Ch. 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And let's start to wind down now....

Q felt the bands on his wrists loosen before falling off. He shakily brought them up to his face, ignoring the two agents that were murmuring to him. He didn’t want anyone to see him. He didn’t want anyone to talk to him. Q just wanted to go to his home and hide from the world for a while.

The various slashes on his arms and torso stung as he moved and he let out a small, almost inaudible, whimper. He opened his eyes and turned his head away from the two worried faces. The turning put him facing the computer which no one was on the screen.

His mind raced with a few possibilities before settling on the one that they were all on their way to him. Q wiped his cheek where a stray tear had started to make its way down his face and caught sight of the blood on his hand. He closed his eyes again, feeling sick before slowly sitting up. Gentle hands helped him into a sitting position and Q was all too thankful for the silence of the two agents.

He was sitting with the two agents hovering at a safe distance, making him feel safe and not constricted. Q faced away from the body, he had an irrational fear that once he looked at Moriarty he would somehow come back to life. Q gripped the table next to his legs tightly and concentrated on keeping his breathing slow and controlled. He knew that he was just one single step off of that cliff of emotion.

The door opened and the room got a little bit more crowded. 006 kept his distance, opting to talk with 003 and 008 while Sherlock and 007 went straight to the Quartermaster.

Q felt the gentle hand against his cheek and he reached up to hold it there. He leaned into it and felt the familiar burning behind his eyes once again. This time they wouldn’t stop. Q cried through his relief and was only aware of a warmth that had encircled him, making the feeling of safety multiply. Q ignored his stinging wounds and the fact that James was allowing him to ruin a suit with his blood. He felt himself relax slowly and finally gained the strength to hug James back tightly.

When he calmed down enough to register who else was in the room, it was about halfway through being patched up by a medical person. Q stared at his left arm for a few seconds before clearing his throat, “Thank you.” he said quietly. Q felt James pull away slightly and he nodded to the action.

Mallory, R, Q’s cousin, and his eldest brother were present now, no doubt arriving sometime during his break down.

Q pushed James away fully, stood up and addressed M, “I think it is fair that I get a few days to compose myself.” He ran a hand through his hair which was relatively flatter than normal.

Mallory nodded, “I would like for you to be checked out by medical first. And I’m assigning 007 to accompany you just in case Moriarty has more strings pulled.”

Q nodded and dismissed the fact that everyone in the room had seen how he had taken comfort from the agent’s presence. Q ignored most of the occupants but made sure to make eye contact with his family before he left the room. A trip to medical and then back to his flat.

It had been forever since he was able to lie down on his own bed.

________

Q unlocked his flat and entered, leaving the door open for the agent that had come with him. They both had been silent for the journey. Q was aware that if he was going to break off their agreement then it would have to be sometime very soon. But he allowed himself one more night. One more night of comfort and sleeping with the trained assassin to starve off the nightmares for this one time.

One more night before he would return to his lonely existence. Q knew that he would have to get used to being alone again. He would have to establish lines between the two of them and make sure that they know where they stood with each other.

For now Q showered, being careful of the bandages, changed into comfortable wear and curled up on his bed. He heard James pause in the doorway before gently tucking in behind Q. The brunet felt an arm slowly wrap around his torso and start to run through his still wet hair. He was coerced into turning and tucking his face into James’ chest.

Q ignored his tears that had started to flow once again and relaxed into a deep sleep.

He woke up to a light humming noise. Q blinked slowly and made a move to get up but stopped when he realized how sore he was. Q grunted and the humming noise stopped.

“You should rest.”

Q sighed and nodded, “I suppose the outcome wouldn’t change depending on where we talk.” He said to himself. Q felt James freeze against him.

“What do you mean Q?” The smooth voice was guarded and tense.

Q closed his eyes and slowly rolled so that he was on his back, “This thing has to stop now. There will no doubt be an issue of favoritism and it is unprofessional.”

James was quiet for a few moments before lying on his back as well, “So that’s it then.”

It was silent for a while and Q had expected something a bit more dramatic and possibly hellfire, not this calm zen that Bond was showing, “Yeah.” He said quietly.

James turned his head to stare at the Quartermaster, Q turned his own head and watched James. His face was calm, almost serene. And then Q realized something. It hurt. The fact that James wasn’t fighting to change his mind hurt. Q swallowed again and turned back to the ceiling. He felt the burning behind his eyes and started to become angry at himself, “Bloody hell, this is ridiculous.” Q pushed his palms into his eye sockets and breathed.

James watched and then turned to the ceiling as well. He knew that once Q had come to a decision about something there was no changing his mind. He also knew that Q was on the way of falling or was already there just from the reaction he was having. It did hurt that he was trying to break it off but having Q in his life at all was something that he wouldn’t try to gamble with if he had an option. Fighting had a possibility of losing Q entirely.

Q sighed audibly before hitting the bed with his fist, “This is not fucking right.” He let the tears fall down his cheeks and ignored them for now. Q tried to distance himself from the situation, thinking about all of the bad that could come of their relationship and that is made sense to separate. As soon as he felt himself start to close off, James started to talk.

“What about R and Agent Riley?” James kept his tone calm and light, he asked the question in a curious tone. He decided to try and make his Quartermaster see his side of the matter.

Q turned towards the agent with a confused look, “What about them?” their relationship didn’t have anything to do with Bond and himself.

“They have the exact same situation as we do, off by one fact.” Bond turned to look back at Q, “R is a head of Q-branch and Riley is an agent, are they going to break up?” Instead of Bond’s usual way of dealing with things, this way he figured would have a better outcome.

“Don’t be deliberately obtuse James. Of course it’s different.”

James continued, “No, not by much. R runs Q-branch when you are away, she is your second. So would they cut it off whenever you go on vacation or break it off entirely to avoid the favoritism?”

Q swallowed and shook his head before turning away again, “There’s a difference between her and I, Bond.” He said drained of the ability to mask his real fear. There was silence for a while before Q knew that James was waiting for the answer. Q sighed before bringing one of his hands to his eyes, “I won’t be able to see or hear you die.” he finally admitted brokenly, “And you can’t promise me that you won’t, you’re a Double-Oh, barely any of you bloody people make it to retirement.”

James watched the despondent man before leaning forward to interlace his fingers with the hand that was still on the bed. He was only half of a foot away now, “Answer something for me, Q.” James watched the other let his hand fall but didn’t open his eyes, “If, three weeks from now, I die on a mission.” James watched the face contort into pain, “Will you still feel the same way about losing me?”

Q opened his eyes where fresh tears were now present. The answer was yes, they were around each other all of the time at work. Q wouldn’t be given any space to get over the agent fully and he would likely still have these feelings years from this moment.

James continued as if Q actually answered in the affirmative, “Would you rather us to break it off and me die or to have something and be happy for whatever amount of time before that fate?”

Q took a deep breath and wiped his eyes with the hand that wasn’t captured before reaching forward to kiss the agent.

They kissed desperately, both of them infusing the different emotions that they had been feeling throughout their ordeal. James was keeping his touches gentle, aware of Q’s injuries. Q pulled back the smallest amount to talk, “You better try your hardest to not fulfill that fate.” He said with watery menace.

James smiled into their next desperate kiss and mumbled against Q’s lips, “Yes, Quartermaster.” He slid his other hand to the back of the other’s head and deepened the kiss.

Q pulled at James’ hair lightly and stared into the oceanic eyes. They stared for awhile and just as James was about to go forward again, Q whispered, “Isaac.” He watched as the confusion morphed to realization and then James was on him again.

James whispered against the soft lips, “I love you, Isaac.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey look at that i named him! (although if you guys read the oneshot in this series then there was no new news to you :) ) 
> 
> the next chapter is a kind of wrap up chapter so it wont be long, somewhere around 700 words. <3 have a nice weekend!


	13. Epiloge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just wrapping things up. Hope you enjoyed!

Airports were still a bit stress-inducing for the young Quartermaster but knowing that he wasn’t the one who was getting on one made him feel just enough at ease with the situation.

The whole family was gathered and seeing their cousin off. Q had talked to Sherlock’s father and filled him in after he had taken two days to recuperate a bit. Uncle Mike adored him, (Everyone in their family adored him.) and so he was glad that Sherlock had been able to help.

Mycroft was standing with his usual air of holier-than-thou attitude and Sherlock was making his annoyance known.

When Q had neglected to end his relationship with James, Mycroft opened his mouth and that was as far as he had gotten before Q told him to stuff it. Sherlock cracked up and gave his little brother a small nod of approval. Q knew it wasn’t that he stood up for himself, it was for talking back to Mycroft but it didn’t matter to Q. It was still a form of approval. And they were his brothers, he was used to their skewed point of views.

His cousin broke away from his small argument with Sherlock and addressed Q, “May we speak for a moment?”

Q blinked at the sudden change and was distantly aware of Sherlock’s scoff and turning to their brother to give them more privacy, “Sure.” He was led away a few paces, but still in eye-line to the other three. James was still technically on Quartermaster watch and was leaning against the wall some space away as to not intrude.

Sherlock placed his hands in his pockets and made sure he had his cousin’s attention, “Our last private moment brought to my attention that you didn’t feel as a part of our family.” Sherlock watched Q’s face for any cues, “I wanted to know if you still felt this way.”

Q thought for a few moments before looking back at his brothers. He noticed Mycroft subtly ignoring the agent but turned so that he could keep him in his sights and Sherlock outright staring at him. It was as if Sherlock was daring James to do something, “It’s an interesting feeling, Sherlock. But no, I don’t think I feel that way at this moment.” Q smiled at James who noticed the gaze and turned back to his cousin, “I don’t think I’ll ever feel fully related but then again I’m not am I?”

Sherlock placed a hand on his cousin’s shoulder, “You are as related as you need to be.” and then a thought occurred to him, “But then again, you can always claim your father’s side if they end up embarrassing you.”

Q chuckled and shook his head. He turned to walk back to the others and shrugged, “True, I have it made from that stand point.”

Sherlock’s hand drifted away, they all said their goodbyes and threats (Sherlock.) and Q wanted to wait to watch the plane take off. Sherlock and Mycroft said their goodbyes to their brother, knowing that he was safe and that they had to continue on with their own jobs. That had left him alone with James.

Q sat on the asphalt and watched the private plane start it’s run. He felt James sit next to him and Q held his hand out. Fingers interlaced with his and he smiled again when his hand was lifted so James could place a kiss on it.

James watched the plane pass by and take off into the skies. He said nothing, just squeezed Q’s hand gently and started to caress it idly with his thumb, “…If our talk hadn’t gone the way it had, I probably would have brought up the pen.”

Q made a noncommittal noise and shrugged, “I think what made me break was the fact that you didn’t fight it at first.” He thought about what that pen meant at the time. It was supposed to be a surprise gift. One that James wouldn’t realize the usefulness until Q pointed it out over the coms while James was pinned in a firefight. But then Q thought about it, it was to make the agent smile. He was long gone on the agent before Q even knew it. Possibly before the agent was gone on himself.

Q closed his eyes when he couldn’t see the plane anymore and took a deep breath. He knew there would be nightmares of his time with Moriarty, but as long as he was able to wake up he would be fine. And they would fade in time. Q was positive that James would make sure of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been super fun writing and posting this story! I absolutely love the James Bond Verse and I am delighted to have been able to write a full story in it with my favorite characters. I am so happy for the responses that I've gotten from you and I loved reading all of your reviews :D


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